Locking the control room doors had the unfortunate effect of delaying calls for offsite responders. In fact, the control room shift foreman informed some responders to standby at home because of the inability to move about the plant. Four hours later the intruder was found curled up in a fetal position and seemed unaware of his surroundings. The intruder was not hostile and the only damage to plant systems resulted from the car's striking equipment in a place and manner which did not directly threaten public safety. But this simple act which took less than two minutes, by a mentally ill man who was only looking for notoriety, exposed numerous security problems at a world famous plant that just happened to have the nuclear industry's highest security rating.
Guards protect the turbine building after vehicle crashes through a roll-up door.
The team reported that the response weapons were stored in isolated locations and that there was a reluctance to use certain weapons. Not all of the vital doors were guarded and some guards left their posts. Poor lighting in the turbine building hampered a thorough search. Some of the responses and security preparedness were reviewed by the NRC for non-compliance. Not all of the armed guards were where the NRC had instructed them to be.