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This week on NOW:
Potentially deadly targets for terrorists, America's nuclear power
plants have been the focus of increased security efforts since 9/11.
While the industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) say the
nation's nuclear reactors are up to meeting the terrorist threat, the
details are shrouded in secrecy. Critics believe the new security
measures don't go far enough and that dangerous targets, including spent
nuclear fuel rods stored outside the containment domes, remain exposed
to attack, which could have devastating consequences. David Brancaccio
investigates the state of security at the nation's nuclear power plants.
The report evaluates how vulnerable the facilities are to terrorism and
sheds light on the new security standards, which were developed in
secret with little input from the public.
Josh Rushing was a spokesman for the Marines during the Iraq war,
serving as the military's liaison to the controversial Arab news channel
Al-Jazeera. When he returned home, he discovered that he was an
unwitting player-a central character-in CONTROL ROOM, the blockbuster
documentary that sparked a raging national debate about the network,
which speaks to 40 million Arabs everyday. What Rushing said on camera
made him a hero to some and a villain to others, including his
superiors. David Brancaccio sits down with Rushing, who left the
military in the wake of the controversy, for his take on whether or not
Al-Jazeera is just a propaganda machine, or a valuable shaper of public
opinion that is too powerful for the US to ignore. "Looking back on
it," says Rushing, "Al-Jazeera may be a more important front in the war
on terror than Iraq was...it's the largest shaper of Arab opinion and
perspective in the world."
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