Permanent Security Fence Going Up in Front of Y-12
NS&D Monitor
11/21/2014
A new security barrier is being constructed at the Y-12 National Security Complex and this time it will be permanent. Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Production Office, confirmed this week that a “temporary” security fence alongside Y-12 entrance is being replaced with a new and permanent fence to add security and keep uninvited guests on the outside. “As in the case of the temporary fence, the permanent fence is being erected primarily to restrict public access to U.S. Government property in front of the entrance sign and along the side of New Hope Center,” Wyatt said via email. “It is intended to notify individuals that they are not permitted to go further into the site. It is not designed to prevent people from crossing it, but it enables the Y-12 Protective Force to take action sooner if the fence is crossed. The fence will be equipped with appropriate signage to warn individuals of the U.S. Government property line.”
The new security fence is being built across the Scarboro Road frontage of Y-12 near the plant’s main entrance. It will replace a structure that’s been in place for the past year and a half. In the spring of 2013, then-General Manager Chuck Spencer made a statement in defense of the fence’s construction. He said it was necessary to improve the plant’s “security posture” following events such as the July 28, 2012 break-in by Plowshares protesters.
Price of Fence ‘Sensitive Information,’ NNSA Says
But the action also meant that regular protesters, like those who gather annually to commemorate the World War II atomic bombs of Hiroshima, Japan, would no longer be able to gather on Y-12’s front lawn. The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance sought an injunction in federal court but it was not successful. The previous fence was constructed of galvanized steel barricades tied together.
The new fence, according to Wyatt, will “consist of a 4-foot-tall aluminum ornamental fence” that will stretch from the corner of Bear Creek Road to the entrance of New Hope Center. Installation should be completed within the next few weeks, Wyatt said. The federal spokesman refused to divulge the cost of the fence and he said other details related to the procurement are considered “sensitive information” and would not be released publicly. “However, the cost is substantially less than initial rough estimates announced in 2013,” he said. The NNSA’s original estimate on the permanent fence was $150,000.
‘Hillbilly Millionaire’ Sentenced to 3 Months in Prison for Y-12 Extortion Scheme
NS&D Monitor
11/21/2014
A former TV reality show star who pleaded guilty to trying to extort millions of dollars from a Y-12 contractor will end up spending months in federal prison as a result. On Nov. 17, U.S. District Judge Pamela Reeves sentenced 26-year-old Adam Winters to three months in prison and a year of supervised probation for trying to extort money from the federal government. Winters, who gained the nickname of “Hillbilly Millionaire” on the cable show “Millionaire Matchmaker,” told the federal judge, “I just want to say I’m sorry and it will never happen again.”
Under a July agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office in Knoxville, Tenn., Winters pleaded guilty to a felony count of interstate communications with intent to extort. According to the federal complaint, Winters approached B&W Y-12 earlier this year and threatened to go public with a collection of old government photos depicting radiation experiments with animals if the federal contractor didn’t pay him millions of dollars. At the time, B&W Y-12 was the manager of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.
Undercover Agents Negotiated $2.5 Million Deal for Photos
The documents state that Winters sent his message to the Y-12 public affairs office and also attempted to send emails to Vice President Joe Biden and the Knoxville office of the FBI. Undercover agents with the Department of Energy’s Inspector General negotiated a deal with Winters for $2.5 million in exchange for the photographic slides. They agreed upon a May 20 meeting at Y-12, and law-enforcement officers arrested him on the spot.
Winters’ attorney, Norman McKellar, said in court that Winters’ actions were a one-time “dumb mistake.” Besides that, he said, Winters had led a good life. McKellar asked the judge to consider no prison time for his client, arguing that the sentencing guidelines allowed for probation. The photographic slides of radiation experiments were reportedly contained in a surplus storage unit sold at a government auction in Oak Ridge years ago. Bryon Foster, Winters’ stepfather, said his stepson gained access to the slides earlier this year through a member of another Scott County family.
Y-12 Under Security Alert Related to Potential Ferguson, Mo. Protests
NS&D Monitor
11/21/2014
The Y-12 National Security Complex is one of dozens of sites around the United States—but apparently the only one in the nuclear weapons complex—that’s being targeted for protests in response to the anticipated grand jury decision for the Aug. 9 fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, and Y-12 is under a security alert. “We are aware of the possibility that there may be a protest at some point following the (grand jury) announcement,” Steven Wyatt, a federal spokesman at Y-12, said this week. “Clearly, our goals are the safety of the public and protecting Y-12. We are working with the City of Oak Ridge, and local and regional law-enforcement agencies.”
Wyatt said he did not have any information on why Y-12 was apparently chosen as the site for a protest. According to information posted on the Tumblr website for the “Ferguson National Response Network,” a protest would occur at Y-12 at 7 p.m. on the day that the grand jury decision is announced. The decision, according to CNN and other news reports, could come as early as Nov. 21 and would perhaps announced that same day. A grand jury in St. Louis County, Mo., has been weighing evidence on whether to charge Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting of unarmed teen-ager Michael Brown.
Ferguson was the scene of widespread protests and violence in the days and weeks following the shooting and, according to news reports, tensions there are peaking once again as the grand jury report nears. The case has drawn new attention nationwide to issues such as racism and police brutality. The Ferguson response website is encouraging protesters at Y-12 to bring cellphones, cameras, signs and a megaphone.
