In light of the current terrorist threat, what licensee/NRC plans were in place to prevent this from happening?
NRC regulations require accurate accounting and complete control of all nuclear material. The regulations that apply to accounting and control of nuclear material at power reactors are 10 CFR 74.13, 74.15 and 74.19. Because of the current threat and because of the lessons learned from the Millstone 1 event, NRC put in place a temporary instruction directing resident inspectors to review the material accounting and control programs at power reactors. This review is the reason that the problem with the rod segments at Vermont Yankee was identified. The temporary instruction was developed to clarify the extent of possible historical material control and accountability problems at reactors, and to provide guidance for putting in place programs to prevent such problems in the future.
