Red North!

by Mark Lemke

  * * * * *

  ?

  "Hey, Nick. I've been waiting for your call.? I'm afraid I have some bad news."

  Prichard surprised me.? He said 'bad news' in a matter of fact way, as if he were talking about some maintenance activity.? I was impressed with his ability to stay calm under trying, and certainly unanticipated, circumstances.? That was actually a boost to my morale, which was, admittedly, a bit low considering what I was about to do.

  "I've been busy.? Fill me in."

  "Marti is here and is telling me that in the morning, the feds want me to stop the outage preps and clear the plant site of unnecessary personnel.? ?Then they want us to sweep the plant.? They're hoping to stop whatever and whoever might be trying something."

  ?I had some bad news for him, too, but before I could get to it, he told me something I didn't know.

  "The FBI thinks that Ellingson is the insider.? My security manager, for God's sake! I can't believe it, but they've been monitoring phone calls between him and that guy you talked about, Jansen."

  I took the news in stride. I suspected it was someone in security, but I wouldn't have guessed the security manager.? In my experience, I could always count on something unexpected like this.? But my plans had already been set in motion regardless of who had been corrupted.??

  "That's unfortunate," I told him in an even, measured tone,? "but not altogether unexpected. ?Regardless, we've got to move and move now . . . tonight.? We can't-and don't want to-wait for the FBI to take action tomorrow."

  Prichard paused briefly, and then said, "Good.? We need to put this to bed and soon.? I can't have them roaming all over the plant looking for God knows what.? ?

  Not exactly what I was expecting to hear.? I was expecting him to push back.? He continued to surprise me.? He had more fortitude that I'd have given him credit for.? And that was good because he'd need it before this was done.? I hoped he would take what I was about to tell him with as much aplomb.?

  "I need you to do something for me," I said quietly.? I'd found in the past that soft tones helped convey difficult news.

  "What is it?" Prichard said in a more subdued voice, in response to my hushed tones.

  "I need you to reduce power on Unit 1 to fifty percent and shut down the 1-1 main circulating water pump.? Then shut down and clear the screens on that pump."

  Prichard was quiet for a moment.? The main circ water pump pushed sea water into the condenser for cooling. They only had two pumps per unit and shutting one down required them to reduce power to fifty percent. I knew he was processing this request.? I wanted to make sure he understood what he'd just heard, so I gave him a few seconds to absorb it.?

  Then Prichard said, "What the hell good is shutting down the 1-1 circ water pump going to do for us? ?If I order the shift manager to reduce power, there'll be operators all over the plant taking actions.? That's dangerous on a number of levels.? Then there's the FBI.? I doubt they're going to like that idea very much."

  "I thought you said the FBI wasn't going to be there until morning?"

  "Well, yes, that's what Marti said."

  "Then they haven't given you any directions, yet, correct?"

  "Technically, that's correct, but Marti . . ."

  "Look, we can go round and round on this but we don't have time.? Tell whoever you need to you have to reduce power because of a screen problem.? Tell them kelp has broken off because of the storm, clogged the screens, and you have to reduce power immediately.? It happens this time of year, doesn't it?? Besides, fifty percent power isn't going to cause a problem with any of security's target sets. Correct me if I'm wrong but dropping power actually helps us by reducing the source term," I said.? "If the bad guys are successful in causing plant damage and a release of some kind, then starting from a lower power level will limit the amount of radioactivity released.? I'm sure the FBI folks don't know that but will respect the fact that you do.? So you need to sell them on this.? Or not.? I don't care.? Just shut the pump down and do it soon!"

  Prichard knew I wasn't a licensed operator and shouldn't know this much about how his power plant works, but he also knew I had my sources.? Regardless, I assumed he was still taken aback by my direction to him.? I simply needed him to do as I'd asked and stop trying to figure out why I wanted it.? I didn't want to explain things to him.? I didn't have the time and I wasn't sure the phones were secure.? But Prichard persisted.

  "I'm not taking action like that until I understand why."

  I knew I had to give him something to get him to cooperate.? "I'm coming in and it's the only way I can do it without security seeing me."

  Prichard was silent and then I knew he got it.

  "You're crazy!? That can't be done.? You can't get through the bar racks and the screens.? And even if you do, you need to get through the pump impeller.? That just isn't possible."?

  The bar racks are huge, long bars of steel in the water at the Intake structure.? Stretching from the sea floor to the top of the ocean level, they're used to stop large objects like logs from floating into the screens and jamming them.? The screens are just that-screens that rotate up and over in front of the intake to the huge main circulating water pump.? They collect seaweed and other flotsam in the water, to keep it all out of the pump.? Even if something-somehow-got through, the next obstacle was the circulating water pump impeller.?

  "I think it is.? I've looked at the prints of those pumps.? The main seawater tunnels are big enough to drive cement trucks through.? And the pump impellers are big enough to pump large fish without tearing them up.? Right?"

  Prichard knew I was right.? The pumps moved 35,000 gallons of water per minute up to the condenser, so they had a huge impeller.? Large fish had been found in the condenser water box.?

  "Yes, but you're not a fish.? Even if you make it past the bar racks and screens, and then somehow move yourself through the pump, how are you going to get out of the condenser water-box?"?

  The water box collected all the seawater before it was pushed through thousands of small-diameter tubes no bigger than a large finger.? Those water boxes had access hatches on them, but nothing you could operate from inside the water-box itself.?

  "That's where you come in.? They got a guy on the inside, and so will we.? I'm counting on you to get someone to un-dog the hatch and let me out.? Can you do that?"

  I needed to press him now.? I could tell from the questions and tone in his voice that he didn't think this was remotely possible to do.? I'd given him enough time to get over the shock of what I'd wanted him to do and for his brain to revert to what it does well-analyze.

  "I'm going to have to get someone from operations to do that.? They're the only ones here at this time of night who know how to do what you want done.? But never mind whether I can get someone to let you out of the water-box or not.? Let me tell you some of the obstacles you are facing.? There's no breathable air in the tunnels.? That's one.? The mollusks and seashells on the sides of the tunnel walls will tear you to shreds.? There's no light in the tunnels, and it's almost a couple of hundred feet up an incline, from the intake to the condenser inside the turbine building.? I'm telling you, it just can't be done."

  I was used to people telling me that things cannot be done.? It even happened in the military.? I was given jobs that nobody believed could be accomplished; yet I always found a way using will and determination-it was just not that complicated.? But it scared most people to think of putting themselves into the types of situations I found myself in frequently.? Fear is what keeps most people from accomplishing things in their lives.? And it's that same unnamed fear that caused people to tell me I couldn't do it either.? This was precisely what Prichard was doing right now.?Because I knew that, I knew I couldn't reason with him or convince him.? So I didn't waste my time trying.?

  "I'm counting on security and Jansen assuming it can't be done, too.? This really isn't open to discussion.? Your job is to get someone to open the hatch.? Can you do that or can't you?"

&nbs
p; I envisioned Prichard shaking his head, wanting to believe it could be done, but his engineering experience saying it couldn't.? Still, he knew he had no other options that looked good to him.? He had to trust someone.? And right now, strange as it seemed even to him, that person was me.

  "Yes," he agreed reluctantly.? "I'll figure it out somehow.? But there's something you need to know first."?

  I didn't like the sound of that already.? I didn't need or want any more curve balls right now.?

  "The shift manager you met the other day-Dave Street?-it's likely that his wife and children may have been kidnapped.? They were down at Disneyland, and the FBI traced someone on Jansen's team to Orange County.? Dave is the shift manager on watch tonight."

  I just shook my head. ?It made sense.? For Jansen and his team to be successful, he needed to have control of the plant and the best place to do that from was the control room.? Unfortunately, I needed the shift manager's cooperation if I was going to make this happen.? If Jansen was successful in coercing him, the odds of my success were going down.? But it couldn't be helped.? It was the only way in.? I was reasonably sure Jansen had a team in the hills behind the plant ready to come in because that's what my report said was the plant's vulnerable spot.? So Jansen would probably set up a perimeter and be ready for any kind of ground assault from the FBI or sheriff SWAT team, especially from the dark side behind the plant. ?That would make my getting in that way unobserved, moot.? And with the security manager on Jansen's team and controlling some aspect of security, then getting in through the front door was out of the question.? So going in through the seawater tunnels was the only way.

  As calmly as I could, I said, "You need to get to Street.?You need to get him on our side.? Reassure him.? Tell him we're going to make sure his family is all right.? I'll call you back in thirty minutes.? You have until then to talk with him and get this set up."? With that I hung up the phone.?

  Turning to Pete, I said,? "Well, that went about as well as expected."

  Pete just looked at me and nodded.? "We knew this wasn't going to be a cakewalk.? Nothing ever goes completely as planned.? We know that."

  And I did know that.? Didn't mean I had to like it, though.? "Okay," I said.? "Time to saddle up.? Let's go.? We need to get on site."

  ?

  * * * * *

  ?

  Prichard put the phone down.? "Marti, you'll have to excuse me now.? I have something I need to do."

  "Was that Nick?? What's going on?? What did he tell you? What does he want you to do?"

  "I'm sorry.? There's really no time for this.? Please close the door on your way out."

  Marti could see she was being dismissed.? She had little choice but to leave and return to her office, feeling isolated and unsure about what to do next.?