The prepared statement from Wackenhut didn't elaborate on why the contract was being done at a time when the United States is monitoring security programs at all of its utility installations following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

"Our operations will be in keeping with the high standards that our Nuclear Services Division has established at 28 other commercial plants throughout the country where we provide similar service," Alan B. Bernstein, chief operating officer and president of Wackenhut's Global Security sector, says in the statement.

Bernstein says Wackenhut's security operations at the Palisades plant "will be in strict compliance" with the requirements of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Nuclear Management Co. LLC, which operates the Palisades plant, selected Wackenhut.