Oak Ridge Today

After 13 years guarding federal facilities, WSI leaves Oak Ridge

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WSI Oak Ridge

Friday was the last day for many employees at security company WSI Oak Ridge, which lost its contracts to protect federal facilities after the July 28 security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

After 13 years of protecting federal facilities, WSI Oak Ridge has left the Secret City.

Friday was the last day for many employees at WSI, and the contract ended Sunday, spokeswoman Courtney Henry said.

Formerly known as Wackenhut Services Inc., the company once provided up to 1,000 security police officers and support staff at federal facilities that included East Tennessee Technology Park, the Joe L. Evins Federal Building, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12 National Security Complex.

But WSI lost its contract to guard Y-12, a National Nuclear Security Administration site, after the July 28 security breach, and it did not win a separate contract to protect local U.S. Department of Energy sites, including ETTP, ORNL, the Federal Building, and the rest of the Oak Ridge Reservation. That contract was awarded to National Strategic Protective Services LLC, or NSPS. [Read more…]

Letter: WSI leaves Oak Ridge with ‘flags flying’

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To the Oak Ridge Community:

As WSI Oak Ridge completes its transition to the new security contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Protective Force contract, I wanted to take this opportunity to say farewell.

We have provided protective nuclear security services to DOE and the National Nuclear Security Administration in the valley for the past 13 years, and are proud that our employees have answered our nation’s call to duty in an exceptionally worthy manner. The WSI Oak Ridge Protective Force has led the DOE Security Complex in professionalism, mission performance, and innovation. [Read more…]

Y-12 guard transition complete

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WSI Oak Ridge has provided security guard services at the Y-12 National Security Complex for years, but that work has come to an end, three months after an unprecedented security breach.

B&W Y-12, the company that manages and operates Y-12, announced on Monday that it had taken over the security guard force and hired 560 WSI Oak Ridge employees.

On Tuesday, WSI Oak Ridge said the transition was complete.

WSI Oak Ridge said it has provided para-military protective force services to Y-12 for more than a decade and at U.S. Department of Energy sites across the nation for more than 50 years. It continues to provide protective force services for local DOE sites at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, East Tennessee Technology Park, and the Federal Office Building Complex.

“I appreciate the hard work and dedication demonstrated by all our employees,” WSI Oak Ridge General Manager Steve Hafner said. “I am happy that so many employees successfully transitioned to B&W Y-12 and proud to report that every WSI Oak Ridge employee has a position.”

The security force transition from WSI Oak Ridge to B&W Y-12 started Oct. 1 and lasted about a month.

B&W Y-12 announced in September that it would terminate its contract with WSI Oak Ridge. The National Nuclear Security Administration had recommended the move. B&W Y-12 manages and operates Y-12 for the NNSA.

WSI became a subcontractor to B&W Y-12 after the July 28 security breach. Before then, it had operated under a separate contract with the NNSA.

The contracting change was one of several changes made after three anti-nuclear weapons activists, including an 82-year-old nun, sneaked into Y-12 before dawn on July 28, cut through three fences with bolt cutters, and vandalized a building where bomb-grade uranium is stored.