Topeka ? Security officers guarding the Wolf Creek nuclear plant would have a license to kill if terrorists attacked under a bill receiving tentative approval Wednesday in the House.

The bill, needing a final vote of approval to send it to the Senate, gives guards protecting the nuclear plant near Burlington legal protection for using physical or deadly force to stop those attempting to enter the state’s only commercial nuclear facility and cause harm.

The owner of the plant also would be protected from civil liability, provided the guards are properly trained and reasonably believe there is a clear and present threat.

Liability for guards at other potential targets, such as chemical plants, feedlots or critical infrastructure, is not addressed by the bill.

Supporters cited the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the threat of future attacks as the need for the legislation.

“After 9-11, our soil is a battleground,” said Rep. Mario Goico, R-Wichita and chairman of the Select Committee on Kansas Security.

The bill also creates a new felony of trespassing on a nuclear generating facility with a prison sentence of up to 36 months.

Goico said the bill would give the Wolf Creek guards the same authority as military personnel if they were called out to defend the perimeter of the nuclear plant during time of heightened alert.

The guards would have the authority to detain intruders or shoot to kill them if they had reasonable belief that there was a threat to the plant or its personnel.

Democrats said the bill went too far in giving the plant’s operators too much immunity from liability, saying they should be held accountable for properly screening, hiring and training their guards.

“The term justified is not a term of art in the legal world,” said Rep. Paul Davis, D-Lawrence.

Guards would be held harmless only in circumstances spelled out in the law, said Rep. Carl Krehbiel, R-Moundridge, and failure to provide proper training would be grounds for civil action.

However, legislators said they didn’t want a situation where terrorists could launch an attack and then turn around and file a lawsuit against Wolf Creek’s operators and guards for defending the plant.

The Wolf Creek plant began operation in 1985, with a total generating capacity of more than 1.2 million kilowatts of electricity.