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Gaming guard at nuke plant oblivious to inspector

By Tim Surette, GameSpotPosted May 30, 2006 3:35 pm PT

Security at Three Mile Island fails to notice surprise inspector while playing handheld; actions (or lack of) prompt reevaluation of rules.

While stories have shown that gaming on the job can be hazardous, none have approached danger on a statewide disaster level--until today. During a surprise inspection at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, the same site of the worst nuclear accident in US history, one security guard was so engrossed a game he was playing on a handheld, he failed to notice the inspector, reports the Associated Press. "The issue is not the guard's use of the video game," said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection secretary Kathleen McGinty. "The real issue is that his complete absorption in the game distracted him from noticing the repeated approach of our inspector." This, along with other incidents with guards, has led the agency to review its security policies. The game and the device were not identified in the report.

44 Comments

  • nirvana175

    Posted Jun 9, 2006 5:44 pm PT

    wouldn't be ironic if he was playing a game based on The Simpsons?

  • Maquis_UK

    Posted Jun 5, 2006 8:39 am PT

    if he was "engrossed" in the game... couldn't have been a psp game then...!

  • djreign

    Posted May 31, 2006 11:40 am PT

    I thought this story was so messed up that I posted it on digg.com. Help spread the message by digging it up the list by clicking on the link. http://digg.com/security/Gaming_guard_at_nuke_plant_oblivious_to_inspector . Thanks alot everyone.

  • Targzissian

    Posted May 31, 2006 7:23 am PT

    Playing games on a handheld is not recommended while driving a car either.

  • Mystical_Lizard

    Posted May 31, 2006 3:30 am PT

    I am... XD
    Must... play...!

  • portus

    Posted May 31, 2006 3:04 am PT

    any news if the guard was a doughnut addict as well

  • Ernice

    Posted May 30, 2006 10:15 pm PT

    you're fired !

  • agschool

    Posted May 30, 2006 7:03 pm PT

    stop blaming the guard, it's only a nuclear power plant. Those things have multiple levels of securities that you don't know about.
    I think it's no big deal if he is not smoking on crack or something.

    Now if an air-control tower operator is obessed in a hand-held gaming device, that IS a problem.

  • KynKoolij

    Posted May 30, 2006 6:30 pm PT

    I would be fired on the spot at my job for something like this. I don't understand how these dumasses get these kinds of jobs.

  • Obesity_King

    Posted May 30, 2006 6:25 pm PT

    Sounds like a government conspiracy to me. I can just hear Senator Clinton tommorow, "We now have proof that video games are a threat to our national security."

  • tiki_rebb

    Posted May 30, 2006 6:17 pm PT

    I wonder if the plant allows books, magazines, newspapers, etc.

    As for "more restrictions", I doubt even the Princess of Darkness (Hillary Clinton) herself would use this as ammo. There is not much to this story outside of the lax security at TMI.

  • KamaKase

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:56 pm PT

    So....because the guy was playing rather than working. They're blaming the game for being too "absorbing".....if you ask me they're just playing pass the buck.

  • Legendaryscmt

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:47 pm PT

    If the guy was drawn into a GBA game, then he really is an idiot. I can understand a DS or PSP game.

  • Schillinger

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:37 pm PT

    Duke Nukem Advance XD

    I like it, very clever!

  • teknicz

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:22 pm PT

    All this talk about politicians...did you forget your parents are the ones that probably put them in office? Take some responsibility, the guard dude was neglient, and deserves punishment, but for some of you to start pointing your fingers at politicians is retarded.

    Oh, and Tencteri, read a book. Please. You don't know what communism is.

  • turnipsconquer

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:15 pm PT

    Clearly this is the work of Al Queida

  • Tencteri

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:13 pm PT

    First off, the politicians should stop complaining about games they never played and stop being a bunch of babies. Second, I can't believe the fact that they don't act their own age and act as if they are members of the communist party (which I suspect since they seem to enjoy trying to tell innocent people what they can/can't do.) Third, even if the inspector passed by the worker and the worker didn't notice him, that shouldn't even be a news story due to the fact that if the worker had nothing better to do and he did complete his work while he was still on shift, it shouldn't even be a problem since that he didn't do anything that wrong. Anothing thing I noticed is that the news story doesn't even put what kind of guard he is in the power plant, which makes it kind of strange that it is even a news story.

  • Blazer88

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:08 pm PT

    Wow,..I realise that the job can probably be pretty boring,and probably has vvery long periods where you do nothing,..but it is just really bad for him not have noticed the inspector after he was aproached multiple times.Guy probably will ruin it for everyone now too.

  • Drachman

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:08 pm PT

    You lose, good day sir.

  • Donkeljohn

    Posted May 30, 2006 5:00 pm PT

    Gaming on the job is not recommended outside of the industry.

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