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US nuclear facilities fail security tests: Report
New York, Feb 13: Security at two US nuclear weapons facilities was breached at least three times in mock terrorist drills despite heightened concerns after the September 11 attacks, according to a report to be aired on a news network this Sunday.
New York, Feb 13: Security at two US nuclear weapons facilities was breached at least three times in mock terrorist drills despite heightened concerns after the September 11 attacks, according to a report to be aired on a news network this Sunday.
Security measures failed at the Y-12 Nuclear Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee -- America's primary source of weapons-grade plutonium -- and at Los Alamos National Laboratory near Albuquerque, New Mexico, the report says.
The scheduled tests showed long-standing security problems had not been adequately addressed despite the new terrorism risk, according to the man who conducted other mock drills for the Department of Energy leading up to the September 11, 2001, assault.
''People should know that the Department of Energy facilities cannot withstand a full terrorist attack ... A realistic attack, serious, state-sponsored,'' said Richard Levernier, a former senior nuclear security specialist.
A spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration said the news release for the segment was ''misleading at best and irresponsible at worst”.
''Our nuclear materials are secure and it's irresponsible to suggest otherwise,'' said spokesman Anson Franklin, adding, ''These tests are designed to find vulnerabilities before someone else does ... It's wrong to suggest that terrorists could easily penetrate security at these sites.''
Levernier said there was a 50 percent failure rate in the tests of factories and laboratories he conducted.
Chris Steele, the Doe's senior safety official at Los Alamos, said he was in the process of giving the laboratory an ''F'' grade because of ''systematic nuclear safety violations”.
The report cited other examples of lax security including the disappearance of hundreds of electronic key cards and master keys at nuclear facilities. Bureau Report
The scheduled tests showed long-standing security problems had not been adequately addressed despite the new terrorism risk, according to the man who conducted other mock drills for the Department of Energy leading up to the September 11, 2001, assault.
''People should know that the Department of Energy facilities cannot withstand a full terrorist attack ... A realistic attack, serious, state-sponsored,'' said Richard Levernier, a former senior nuclear security specialist.
A spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration said the news release for the segment was ''misleading at best and irresponsible at worst”.
''Our nuclear materials are secure and it's irresponsible to suggest otherwise,'' said spokesman Anson Franklin, adding, ''These tests are designed to find vulnerabilities before someone else does ... It's wrong to suggest that terrorists could easily penetrate security at these sites.''
Levernier said there was a 50 percent failure rate in the tests of factories and laboratories he conducted.
Chris Steele, the Doe's senior safety official at Los Alamos, said he was in the process of giving the laboratory an ''F'' grade because of ''systematic nuclear safety violations”.
The report cited other examples of lax security including the disappearance of hundreds of electronic key cards and master keys at nuclear facilities. Bureau Report