Washington: Nuclear power plants on heightened state of alert

The government put the nation’s nuclear power plants on a heightened state of alert late Friday because of information gained by the intelligence community, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The intelligence did not specify that there was a threat directed against nuclear power plants or outline any plot, said NRC spokeswoman Beth Hayden. But the NRC sent a special advisory to 103 nuclear power plants to be cautious.

“This advisory is telling them to be on the lookout and to report anything suspicious to the operations center,” Hayden said.

Hayden noted that since Sept. 11 the nuclear power plants have already been directed to increase security patrols, install barricades and look for suspicious people trying to conduct surveillance on the plant.

Afghanistan: Coalition raids compound believed to harbor al-Qaida

Coalition soldiers got into a shootout early Friday after they raided a compound intelligence sources said was a refuge for senior Taliban and al-Qaida leaders. One person was killed and some 50 others were captured, U.S. military officials said.

“Items of intelligence value were found,” along with weapons and a large amount of cash, said Capt. Steve O’Connor, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan.

No coalition soldiers were hurt in the raid, said Maj. A.C. Roper, a U.S. military spokesman at the base in Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan.

Officials were trying to determine the identities of the detainees.

Two other suspected members of al-Qaida or Taliban were wounded in the raid, which began at 1 a.m. and stretched over eight hours. The compound is west of the city of Kandahar.