March 17, 2014

FEDS BEGIN TO BUILD CASE IN FIRST DAY OF Y-12 INTRUDER TRIAL

By ExchangeMonitor

In federal court testimony Tuesday, NNSA Production Office Manager Steve Erhart revealed that an inbound SST with nuclear weapons parts or materials was en route to the Y-12 National Security Complex on Saturday, July 28, 2012, and had to be delayed because of security concerns created by the break-in at Y-12 earlier that morning by three Plowshares protesters. Erhart said the convoy was held up by its commander due to lingering concerns about possible threats at the Oak Ridge facility. A complete sweep of the plant, with a focus on the ridge north of Y-12 where the protesters reportedly entered the plant, had to be accomplished in the hours that followed the security breach. The NPO manager said that delayed the arrival of the SST and unloading its delivery. He didn’t testify as to the specifics of the shipment, but said the mission ultimately was accomplished “many, many hours” after its scheduled time.

Erhart’s testimony was part of the government case to show that the break-in injured the national defense, one of the felony charges against the three protesters—Sister Megan Rice, Michael Walli and Greg Boertje-Obed. The federal official said the security intrusion had other impacts, including the 15-day shutdown of all nuclear operations following the breach in order to provide more training for all Y-12 employees. The shutdown had an impact on the Oak Ridge plant’s production activities and schedules, Erhart said. Federal prosecutor Melissa Kirby, in the trial’s opening statements, said Y-12 fell behind on its deliveries and been “playing catch-up ever since.” In his testimony, Erhart said that Y-12 had generally caught up on its delivery schedules but said he couldn’t say for sure that all impacts had been resolved. “I don’t know the full answer to that,” he said.

Comments are closed.