National Guard no longer patrolling N.J. plants

National Guard officers and state police will no longer patrol New Jersey's three nuclear power plants. State Attorney General Anne Milgram says enhanced private security and a new video monitoring system will suffice.

The system has thermal imaging capabilities and can provide views of the perimeter. It feeds images directly to the state's Regional Operations and Intelligence Center.

National Guardsmen have patrolled outside Oyster Creek in Forked River and the Salem and Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Stations in Salem County since October 2001. During the last seven years, more than $82 million Oyster Creek and Salem and Hope Creek have spent combined on capital security improvements.

New York eliminated National Guard soldiers at four upstate power plants in May.

- AP