"Editor's note"

Media Relations and Marketing
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506-0117
Phone: 785-532-6415
Fax: 785-532-6418

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Editor's note:

Here is a package of information about K-State's nuclear engineering program and research reactor. Photos are available on request to accompany a story, if you wish to do one. We are hoping to share information about the value of reactors at universities and their outstanding safety records.

We believe that ABC News will mention university reactors -- including the one at K-State -- in a story on Primetime which may air Oct. 13.

Here's the background: On June 29, 2005, two young women posing as casual visitors toured K-State's research reactor trying to secretly get information about reactor security. ABC News interns Hsinching Wei, a public policy major at the Kennedy School at Harvard University, and Melia Patria, of the School of Journalism at Columbia University, were photographed and copies were made of their drivers' licenses. These young women were employed by ABC News at the time of the "tour." Both were participating in eight-week internships funded by the Carnegie Corporation.

K-State personnel have communicated with local security authorities, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the FBI before, during and after the "tour" here at K-State. The tour was conducted using federal guidelines and regulations built into approved facility procedures, using security measures not obvious to those who used false pretenses to get into the reactor area.

The ABC interns were accompanied by K-State employees at all times in the nuclear reactor area, and were under continuous monitoring by our electronic security. K-State personnel, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the FBI all knew who these young women were, and what they were doing before they arrived. They had already been identified as being no security threat.

Many university research reactors are publicly accessible and operated as teaching tools for students and open to the public for tours. The K-State reactor is a resource for faculty here and at other colleges in the state, and for visits by elementary and high school-age students. K-State students use the reactor to learn the basics of nuclear engineering.

Every test reactor has multiple layers and techniques of security. These include security officers, surveillance and detection equipment and alarms.

The amount of uranium fuel in research reactors is sufficiently small that even in the event of accident there is virtually no risk to the general public even in close proximity to the buildings that house the test reactors. K-State's reactor has a perfect safety record.

Members of the news media who would like to see QuickTime video of the ABC News tour visit or a posed photo of the interns with their K-State tour guide, please contact me.

- Cheryl May
Interim Assistant Vice President for University Relations/
Director, Media Relations and Marketing
785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu