March 17, 2014

TURNER BILL WOULD SHIFT WEAPONS COMPLEX SECURITY TO MILITARY

By ExchangeMonitor

A bill introduced in the House of Representatives Friday by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) would shift responsibility for protecting National Nuclear Security Administration sites to the military as fallout from the July security breach at the Y-12 National Security Complex continues. The “Securing Our Nuclear Weapons and Facilities Act,” which is unlikely to gain traction before the end of the year, would also give the military the responsibility for protecting nuclear transport shipments, which is currently the job of federalized security guards with NNSA’s Office of Secure Transportation. Contractors provide security at weapons complex sites, and Department of Energy protective force mainstay WSI has been under fire for its role in the July 28 security breach. “Our military has the capabilities, training, and cultural mindset needed to secure the nation’s most powerful weapons,” Turner said in a statement. “NNSA was originally created by Congress because of major security and mismanagement problems at DOE. For 12 years DOE and NNSA have been saying they will get things right—this latest incident proves once again that they haven’t. I am not willing to risk having security for our nuclear weapons continue to reside inside this broken system.”

The drastic action is the latest effort by Turner, the chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee, to reform the NNSA. Turner authored language in the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Act that would overhaul the management and governance structure of the agency, and he has been outspoken in his concern after the Y-12 security breach, suggesting that more radical measures to reform the agency might be necessary. “Last week my Subcommittee heard directly from NNSA officials and experts on the Y-12 incident and the alarming lapse of security,” said Turner, whose subcommittee held a hearing on the security breach Sept. 13. “On a bipartisan basis we were stunned by the series of failures, at all levels, that enabled this incident to occur. We were also dismayed by the lack of accountability in responsible federal officials. It is clear that the NNSA is broken and we must take immediate action to ensure the security of the nation’s nuclear materials.” The National Nuclear Security Administration and the Department of Energy did not respond to a request for comment. The bill is co-sponsored by six other Republicans: Reps. Trent Franks (Ariz.), Mo Brooks (Ala.), Austin Scott (Ga.), Doug Lamborn (Colo.), Mike Rogers (Ala.), and John Fleming (La.).

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