Henry Sokolski
Earlier this year, in a one-page memo recommending one nuclear policy the new administration should adopt, I proposed that President Trump follow through on his 2021 executive order, which focused on the vulnerability of US critical infrastructure to drone strikes. This included our electrical supply system and nuclear power plants.
Since then, four drones have been sighted operating near the Prairie Island Nuclear Plant in Minnesota. This sighting came on the heels of some 26-odd drone overflights of US reactors in 2024.
Fortunately, the House Armed Services Committee has been keeping score. In its draft National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2026, the committee proposed that the Energy Secretary finally be given authority to defend Energy Department-operated nuclear facilities. Under the proposed legislation, the Energy Department can disable, damage, or destroy any unmanned aircraft system that overflies its nuclear facilities. This bill is expected to be debated on the floor the week of September 8th. Meanwhile, the Senate will have to consider which of the hundreds of amendments it will adopt in its legislation. With any luck, it will adopt the House provisions regarding drones.
This authority is overdue. In December, drones overflew a number of US power reactors as well as US military bases. Governors of New Jersey and Louisiana pleaded that President Biden take action. What followed, in both the Biden and Trump administrations, were bizarre word salads of dismissals. One claim was that the drones (some of which were the size of small airplanes) were flown by “hobbyists.” Another was that they were research planes authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration.
None of this was terribly convincing. In two separate 60 Minutes programs, a variety of senior military officials, including the former Commander of NORTHCOM, expressed concern and were blunt. They had no idea what these things were or where they were coming from, and they were worried: The military lacked the authority to shoot the drones down or any reliable means to detect and disable them.
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