Since the events of September 11, 2001, the nuclear power industry has spent more than $0.5 billion on improving plant security and will spend a similar amount on further upgrades. During the public portion of a Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting on March 23, agency commissioners and staff discussed some of the terrorist-preparedness initiatives undertaken by the NRC and the industry in the past two-and-a-half years. The meeting, "Briefing on Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) Programs, Performance and Plans," began as a public session but was followed by a closed-door session because of classified information to be discussed. During the public session, Commissioner Edward McGaffigan, commenting on the dollars spent on improving security, noted, We have been told that [the industry has] spent over a half a billion dollars in improvements, and there's probably another half a billion dollars coming. I think that's unique among American industry in terms of an enormous expenditure, and I think we are getting our money's worth. I think the American people are getting their money's worth as a result of those expenditures."
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