Actions Against Nonnuclear Energy Facilities: September 1981-September 1982

Abstract

This Note reviews incidents involving nonnuclear energy installations in the United States and abroad from September 1981 to September 1982. Its purpose is to identify trends that may signal potential threats to energy facilities in the United States. The Note includes a chronology of 99 incidents, nearly two-thirds of which were attacks on facilities for generating and transmitting electrical energy. Fifty-seven of these incidents were perpetrated by anti-government leftist guerrillas in Latin America, especially El Salvador. Another 19 incidents were related to the Iran-Iraq war and represented attempts by the combatants and their partisans in the region to interfere with the enemy's production and distribution of oil. During this period, few energy-related incidents occurred in the United States. The few that did take place were economically rather than politically motivated and included extortion threats and theft of oil. Incidents both in the United States and abroad should serve as warnings of the vulnerability of modern energy systems.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Apr 01, 1983
Accession Number
ADA511832

Entities

People

  • Bonnie J. Cordes
  • Gail Bass

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • California
  • Electric Power
  • Explosions
  • Explosive Charges
  • Explosives
  • Governments
  • Materials Laboratories
  • Materials Processing
  • Materials Science
  • Personnel Management
  • Petroleum
  • Political Systems
  • Pumping Stations
  • Telephone Lines
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States

Readers

  • Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy Engineering.
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.
  • Systems Analysis and Design