Oak Ridge Today

Y-12 camera didn’t work, hammering trespassers mistaken for maintenance

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Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility

Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (Photo courtesy of NNSA/B&W Y-12)

Note: This story was last updated at 10:40 p.m.

A special federal report published Wednesday documents alleged failures that allowed three anti-nuclear weapons activists to sneak into the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28, penetrate a high-security area, and spray-paint slogans and splash human blood on a building that stores bomb-grade uranium.

Among the findings: A critical security camera in an area penetrated by the protesters hadn’t worked for about six months, and guards assumed the trespassers were maintenance workers when they used hammers to beat on the walls of the uranium storage building, officially known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility.

The failures in the $150 million security system at Y-12, which has “long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most secure facilities in the United States,” raised serious questions, said the 18-page report by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General.

“We identified troubling displays of ineptitude in responding to alarms, failures to maintain critical security equipment, over-reliance on compensatory measures, misunderstanding of security protocols, poor communications, and weaknesses in contract and resource management,” said the report, signed by Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman.

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IG report finds ‘multiple system failures’ at Y-12, inept alarm responses

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The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General has released a report on the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and it found “multiple system failures on several levels,” including ineptitude in responding to alarms, failures to maintain critical security equipment, misunderstanding of security protocols, and poor communications.

There was also an over-reliance on “compensatory measures,” and weaknesses in contract and resource management, said the 18-page report, released about one month after the security breach. In addition, “contractor governance and federal oversight failed to identify and correct early indicators of these multiple system breakdowns.

“When combined, these issues directly contributed to an atmosphere in which the trespassers could gain access to the protected security area directly adjacent to one of the nation’s most critically important and highly secured weapons-related facilities,” according to a summary of the report posted on the OIG website.

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Officials cancel plan to cut guards at Y-12

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A plan to cut up to 34 guard positions at the Y-12 National Security Complex has been canceled, a federal spokesman said Tuesday.

WSI Oak Ridge, which provides security at Y-12, no longer has the authority to restructure its staff since it is now a subcontractor reporting to B&W Y-12, rather than the National Nuclear Security Administration, said Steven Wyatt, public affairs manager for the NNSA Production Office in Oak Ridge. That change in reporting authority followed an unprecedented July 28 security breach at the plant, the nation’s main production facility for many nuclear weapons components.

The WSI plan had called for cutting a total of up to 52 jobs at Y-12 and the East Tennessee Technology Park. Employees were to be offered voluntary separations, and today was supposed to be the last work day for those who were accepted.

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Federal official says Y-12 security breach demands swift, strong action

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A rapid response was required after the unprecedented security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex last month, a federal official said this week.

And the U.S. Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have both taken aggressive steps to restore and enhance security at the plant, the nation’s main production facility for many nuclear weapons components, the official said.

“Secretary Chu has made clear that the security of our nation’s nuclear material is the department’s most important responsibility, and he has no tolerance for federal or contractor personnel who cannot or will not do their jobs,” DOE spokesman Damien LaVera said. “As the secretary has made clear, the recent incident at Y-12 was a completely unacceptable breach of security and an important wake-up call for our entire complex. The severity of the failure of leadership at Y-12 demands swift, strong, and decisive action by the department.”

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Nuclear operations resume at Y-12 under greater federal oversight

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After a two-week “stand down,” nuclear operations resumed Wednesday at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

But there will now be more federal oversight of contractor operations, a National Nuclear Security Administration press release said. B&W Y-12 operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

“The authorization to resume operations was made possible through the completion of numerous improvements in security at Y-12 and completion of security training,” the press release said.

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Y-12 cameras weren’t working, guards failed to react, federal letter says

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Transform Now Plowshares

The three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above sneaked into a high-security area at the Y-12 National Security Complex on July 28 and triggered a security crisis that has led to personnel changes, a temporary halt in nuclear operations, and a potential termination of a federal contract with B&W Y-12. From left to right, the three protesters are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed. (Submitted photo)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:32 a.m. Aug. 15.

Many security cameras weren’t working when three anti-nuclear weapons activists sneaked into the Y-12 National Security Complex early in the morning on Saturday, July 28, a federal official said in a critical letter released Tuesday evening.

One of those cameras was near a fence penetrated by the protesters, who allegedly used bolt-cutters to slice through three fences before they walked to a high-security building known as the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, where bomb-grade uranium is stored.

The intruders, who allegedly spray-painted slogans and splashed human blood on the HEUMF, set off many alarms in a “multi-layered sensor system” in a fence line, but the Y-12 protective force failed to react, the official said.

When guards alerted by the alarms responded with a vehicle patrol, it took them too long to arrive at the scene, and once there, they “failed to take appropriate steps to take control of the situation,” said the official, National Nuclear Security Administration Contracting Officer Jill Y. Albaugh. She said a responding supervisor finally took control and removed the protesters.

Written Friday, Albaugh’s letter gives Babcock and Wilcox Technical Services Y-12, the plant’s managing and operating contractor, 30 days to show why the federal government should not proceed to terminate its contract.

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NNSA changes security contract competition, including at Y-12

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As the fallout from a July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex continues to roil the plant, federal officials announced Monday they have canceled part of a proposal to combine protective force services at Y-12, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office, and the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The current contract competition will be revised to remove the National Nuclear Security Administration’s portion of the protective force services from the solicitation, according to an NNSA announcement. That includes the part of the contract competition that would provide protective force operations at Y-12 and Pantex.

The security services, or protective force operations, are now expected to be included in a consolidated management and operating contract covering both Pantex and Y-12.

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Plan to cut Y-12 staff hasn’t changed despite security breach

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Transform Now Plowshares

The breach of a high-security area at the Y-12 National Security Complex by the three anti-nuclear weapons activists pictured above has not changed plans to cut up to 34 security officers. From left to right, the three are Michael R. Walli, Megan Rice, and Greg Boertje-Obed.

The plan to cut up to 34 security police officer jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex hasn’t changed, despite a breach of a high-security area early Saturday morning by three anti-nuclear weapons activists, a federal spokesman said Wednesday.

Steven Wyatt, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, said the decision is not being re-evaluated.

“The size of the protective force is determined through a comprehensive process that considers a number of factors, which have not changed since the decision to reduce the size of the protective forces was made,” Wyatt said in a Wednesday evening e-mail.

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Nuclear operations halted at Y-12 National Security Complex

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All nuclear operations have been halted at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, a federal spokesman said Wednesday.

The unprecedented security “stand down” occurred after three activists breached the plant’s high-security area on Saturday and after an internal review by B&W Y-12 and the National Nuclear Security Administration found procedural violations, NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt said.

“Once we found those, B&W decided it was prudent to stand down operations,” Wyatt said. B&W Y-12 manages and operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

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Security ‘stand down’ starts at Y-12 National Security Complex

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Federal officials on Wednesday afternoon announced a security “stand down” at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge.

It’s a result of the the ongoing internal review of Y-12 security operations, according to a press release from the National Nuclear Security Administration.

During the “stand down,” all special nuclear materials will be moved to vault-type facilities on site, all nuclear operations will be halted, and contractor security personnel will undergo training and refresher instruction, the release said.

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Nuclear security workshop at Y-12 includes 21 countries

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Twenty-one countries participated in a first-time nuclear security workshop at the  Y-12 National Security Complex this week.

The World Institute for Nuclear Security workshop has focused on the best security practices for nuclear power plants and other major nuclear facilities, a National Nuclear Security Administration press release said.

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NNSA sites, Y-12 earn dozen research, development awards

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The Y-12 National Security Complex shared one of 12 annual research and development awards given to National Nuclear Security Administration laboratories and production sites, federal officials announced this week.

The 2012 R&D 100 Awards were given out by R&D Magazine.

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