Catawba Nuclear Power Station

Steam rises from the cooling towers at Duke Catawba Nuclear Power Station near York, S.C., Monday, Oct. 11, 2004. The concrete moat under construction at the station south of Charlotte has little to do with the utility's plans to start burning mixed-oxide fuel containing small amounts of weapons-grade plutonium next spring. Designed to prevent everything from passenger cars to military tanks from getting too close to the reactor, the moat is part of a post-Sept 11, 2001 security upgrade.