Today, the facility, like most hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants and other major utilities, faces a different kind of threat: domestic and international terrorism, in which the infrastructure is a potential target.
The U.S. government now spends significant dollars on ways to better protect such plants as well as on research and development of new security solutions. Between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the White House’s Homeland Security Council, an estimated $40 billion is earmarked to local, state and federal security endeavors this year, with another $7 billion aimed at anti-terrorism research.