ISU officials said there’s no concern regarding terrorist attacks on campus despite Iowa State’s decommissioned nuclear reactor and high levels of scientific research on campus.

The university is still registered as having a license for a nuclear reactor with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said Dan Bullen, former director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. And although that means that Bullen must legally respond to terror alerts, he said he is not worried about possible terrorist activity on campus.

Iowa State had a nuclear reactor from 1959 to 2000. Reasons for decommissioning the reactor included the decline in undergraduate enrollment and lack of impact the reactor had on helping the state of Iowa, said Bullen, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

In 1998 the notice of intent to close was given to the NRC and after approval in May 2000 the reactor was demolished.

By the end of the calendar year, Iowa State should no longer be recognized as having a license, he said.

“It’s a valid concern [that ISU might be a target], but it is not a high likelihood,” Bullen said.

Terrorists would not look at the NRC licensing list and decide Iowa State is a threat, he said.

“Terrorists are smarter than that [and] would pick a place with an actual reactor,” he said.

Professors in the mechanical engineering department are becoming counterterrorism experts, said Carolyn Heising, professor of industrial, mechanical and nuclear engineering.

To be an expert, the professors must learn of all the kinds of terrorism there are, Heising said.

Terrorist acts may be biological, radiological, computer-based or agroeconomic, she said.

Heising will attend the American Nuclear Society’s seminar in Washington to discuss counterterrorism.

“We are problem solvers,” she said.

The engineering department has been introducing counterterrorism in the classrooms, and there is a motion to offer a class in counterterror as well, Heising said.

ISU Police Cpt. Gene Deisinger agrees there are no serious concerns about terrorism on campus.

ISU Police try to stay well-informed on research performed on campus as a way of ensuring the safety of the university, Deisinger said. “We are well positioned to prevent and respond to terror,” he said.

By sharing information within the university and maintaining ties with federal agencies, ISU Police can come up with an improved plan for reducing risk, Deisinger said.

During the past summer, ISU Police participated in a disaster drill on campus. The drill was a way of testing the capabilities of the department, he said.

Federal grants were provided to help fund the disaster drills.

Deisinger said he will attend a week-long conference on terror response in November.