Nuclear plants were designed to withstand earthquakes , hurricanes , and other extreme natural events . But deliberate attacks involving large airliners loaded with fuel , such as those that crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon , were not considered when design requirements for today 's fleet of reactors were determined . It was in 1972 when three hijackers took control of a domestic passenger flight along the east coast of the U.S. and threatened to crash the plane into a U.S. nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge , Tennessee . The plane got as close as 8,000 feet above the site before the hijackers ' demands were met
took control
Southern Airways Flight 49
Vulnerability of nuclear plants to attack