New acting National Nuclear Security Administration chief Bruce Held is heading up a security task force established by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, and he’ll visit the Y-12 National Security Complex today in an effort to better familiarize himself with the location of one of the most high-profile security breaches in recent NNSA history. Held, who took over as the acting head of the agency earlier this month, is expected to visit other sites around the complex in the coming weeks as part of his work on the task force. Moniz “wants a relook” at security across the DOE complex, Held told NW&M Monitor in an interview yesterday. “I think we’re better off than we were a year ago,” Held said, referencing the looming one-year anniversary of the July 28, 2012, security breach at Y-12, “but we can be better off a year from today.” He said the new Secretary was looking to build up independent oversight of security and examine lines of communication and chain of command issues. “Those are what I’m exploring at the moment,” Held said. “But before I reach any conclusions I want to go out and talk to people.”
NEW ACTING NNSA CHIEF TO VISIT Y-12 TODAY
Savannah River Site shifts from cleanup toward broader nuclear missions
ARLINGTON, Va. – Savannah River Site is moving beyond its traditional environmental cleanup mission as the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration prepare to expand nuclear-fuel, plutonium and other national-security activities at the South Carolina site. The NNSA took over landlord responsibilities from DOE’s Environmental Management in October 2024. Edwin Deshong, manager of […]