SENTENCING FOR Y-12 PROTESTERS CONSOLIDATED
NS&D Monitor
1/17/2014
U.S. District Judge Amul R. Thapar has consolidated the sentencing hearings for the three Plowshares protesters convicted on felony charges, including sabotage, for the July 28, 2012 break-in at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, and they’ll all be in the courtroom on the morning of Jan. 28. Thapar said the hearings were consolidated because the defendants have filed an objection to the pre-sentencing investigation report and they also intend to call witnesses who will testify about each of them. “After resolving the objection and hearing the testimony, the Court will then sentence each defendant individually,” Thapar wrote.
One thing that won’t be in the courtroom, however, will be music. The federal judge denied a motion from Greg Boertje-Obed who asked that he be allowed to play two songs in court. “Boertje-Obed is welcome, however, to file the songs’ lyrics in the record, which the Court is happy to review,” Thapar wrote in a court order. “Also, if the songs are publicly available, the Court will be happy to listen to them before the hearing.”
Attorney: Protesters Don’t Deserve ‘Discount’
Meanwhile, the U.S. attorneys have countered the requests from the defendants that they be given significantly lighter sentences than those in the federal recommended guidelines, and speculation is building over how Thapar will treat the various arguments—especially on the felony count of sabotaging the U.S. defense. In his response to the arguments for lighter sentences, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore, who specializes in national security cases, argued that the activists did not deserve any break because they’ve shown no remorse for the break-in and damage at Y-12. “The defendants have been convicted of serious offenses that have caused real harm to the Y-12 National Security Complex,” he wrote in government’s response. “They have shown no remorse for their criminal conduct. To the contrary, they have reveled in their violations and used it to gain publicity for their cause. By penetrating the secure and sensitive premises of Y-12 and having a highly publicized trial, the defendants accomplished their mission. Now that it is time for them to pay the price for their decision, the defendants ask for an incredible discount.”
He added: “The United States believes that the defendants should be held accountable for their deliberate choice and accept the appropriate consequences for their actions. The defendants should all be sentenced to imprisonment within the Guidelines range as calculated in the PSRs [Presentence Investigative Reports].”
Protester Asks for ‘Reasonable Sentence’
Boertje-Obed, who represented himself during the trial, in his pre-sentencing statement asked the judge to impose a “reasonable sentence” that is significantly less than the range—78 to 97 months—proposed in the federal sentencing guideline. In his motion, Boertje-Obed provided the judge with the background on how he became a peace activist while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Polk, La. While training in 1981 to respond with medical aid to chemical, biological and nuclear attacks, Boertje-Obed said he had reservations about the message from his commanding officer. “It was conveyed that we were to hate and destroy the dehumanized enemies,” he said.
More than 2,000 letters and postcards in support of the protesters and asking for leniency have been submitted to the court, and another 11,000-plus signatures are on petitions—some with messages as well—that have been provided as well. “In conclusion, I request that you, Judge Thapar, listen to your conscience and consider issuing a sentence below the advisory sentencing guidelines,” Boertje-Obed stated in his motion. The Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy is among the groups to send a letter to Thapar asking for leniency for the peace activists. “The actions and statements of the defendants were prompted by their desire to draw attention to the enormity of the potential humanitarian consequences of the U.S. nuclear weapons program and the imperative of undertaking disarmament,” states the five-page letter, dated Jan. 13. “Their actions and statements are part of a growing awareness, in the United States and worldwide, of the grave humanitarian impacts of nuclear war, the ongoing risks of nuclear detonations in conflict or otherwise, and the urgent need for the global elimination of nuclear weapons.”
Y-12 CHIEF ‘SURPRISED AND DISAPPOINTED’ AT FY13 RATING
NS&D Monitor
1/17/2014
Chuck Spencer, the president and general manager of B&W Y-12, the government’s managing contractor at the Y-12 National Security Complex, said he was “surprised and disappointed” at the contractor’s 58 performance score on its Fiscal Year 2013 Performance Evaluation Review, but he said the company won’t challenge it. The score was nearly identical to the score the contractor received in FY 2012, when a security breach rocked the site. “There is no plan to appeal that,” said Spencer, who is leaving the site to return to B&W headquarters Feb. 1.
The National Nuclear Security Administration publicly released a memo on Dec. 20, showing that B&W Y-12 earned only 58 percent of the available fee for the year, and 57 percent of its at-risk fee ($43.9 million out of $76.6 million available). The NNSA has not publicly released the performance evaluation, but Spencer said he has seen a performance report, which he said was stamped “official use only.” “I don’t really want to get into all the details,” Spencer said. “In the report we got back, there was a significant amount of positive information in it, and so that’s really all I’d have to say.” He also noted there were “a few things” that were negative, but declined to discuss them.
Spencer said the NNSA followed the annual performance plan. Marshall Cohen, Babcock & Wilcox’s vice president for government affairs and communications, recently said there appeared to be “a gap” between what B&W officials had been told about the performance at Y-12 and the performance score. When asked about that, Spencer said, “Quote him.” He added: “If you just think, I was surprised and disappointed. Why else would that be? Here’s the point. I have a customer. It’s a very good customer. I try never to besmirch the customer.”
ORNL RESTARTS HIGH FLUX ISOTOPE REACTOR
NS&D Monitor
1/17/2014
Oak Ridge National Laboratory restarted its 85-megawatt High Flux Isotope Reactor on Jan. 14, maintaining its schedule following a long outage to repair a pipe leak and take care of other issues. “After a full day of startup activities and radiological surveys on beam lines in the cold guide hall, the reactor is at 100% power,” Ron Crone, ORNL’s reactor chief said following the restart. A pipe leak that stalled the scheduled Nov. 19 restart of the reactor was repaired with sheets of carbon fiber. According to Crone, more than 200 feet of pipe that forms the reactor’s cooling tower return line was lined and should provide a permanent solution for an old pipe that was due to be replaced anyway.
