Acting NNSA Administrator Says Security Did Its Job
Staff Reports
NS&D Monitor
2/14/2014
Bruce Held, the acting administrator of the NNSA, this week confirmed new details of the mid-January incident involving the mishandling of uranium at the Y-12 National Security Complex. Responding to questions following his keynote address at the Sixth Annual Nuclear Deterrence Summit, Held said the problem involved two vials of uranium oxide totaling 20 grams that were “improperly stored.” He also acknowledged that the material was highly enriched uranium. Held said he was unable to discuss some details because of an ongoing inquiry into exactly what happened at Y-12, but expected that to be completed soon.
According to people familiar with the incident, a Y-12 technician working in the plant’s 9212 facility, where uranium is processed in many forms, inadvertently left samples of uranium oxide in a pocket of his lab coat or work overalls. The nuclear worker’s protective clothing was reportedly tossed into a laundry hamper as he went through a series of radiological checks on his way out of the uranium operation and into a “clean” area.
Security Did ‘What They Were Supposed to Do’
Security police officers at the Oak Ridge plant were credited with discovering the material, responding to an alert from a metal or radiation detector, before the clothing left the plant on its way to an off-site commercial laundry. “The two vials never left the secure area,” Held said. “There was never a worker or public safety issue, and the positive side of the incident is that the Y-12 security forces did exactly what they were supposed to do.” However, he acknowledged that if security personnel had not found the HEU, it could have left the plant and ended up at the laundry. “It could have gotten out of the plant,” Held said. Even if had, the material would not have created a nuclear safety threat or a national security issue, he said.
But the incident nonetheless raised concerns about the mis-accounting for special nuclear material, even in small quantities. “So, the question is how do we make sure that these things get secured properly,” Held said. “It’s a matter of public trust and confidence in what we do. We need to keep better track of this stuff. … We take these things very, very seriously.”
Held Lauds Security Forces at Y-12
Held and his military aide, Capt. Geoffrey deBeauclair, visited Y-12 last week and met with workers. “The purpose of the all-hands meeting was, ‘Hey, you guys live here, you know how to do this, but if we have a real embarrassing thing it’s going to affect your guys livelihood and the well-being of your families.’” he said. He said it was up to the folks at Y-12 to come up with better ways of doing things so that he could approve those changes and move forward.
Y-12 is still reeling from the July 28, 2012 security breach, in which three peace activists penetrated the plant’s vaunted security all the way to the storage facility for weapons grade uranium. While the latest problem is another embarrassment at Y-12, Held indicated that it may have been a salve for some of the security officers’ wounds. When meeting with employees involved in the most recent incident, Held talked to a security guard who’d helped recover the uranium. “As I walked in, I said, hey, and introduced myself and said, tell me what your life has been like over the past 18 months,” he said. Held said the guard told him he hated going to get a haircut since the July 2012 incident because every time he went his buddies at the barber shop would razz him. He said he felt humiliated. Asked how he felt now, the guard said he felt a lot better. “I said you should be,” Held said. “You did a really good job.”
