In changes in its security approach at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, USEC this week is laying off security guards and de-manning a security checkpoint. The changes are taking place as USEC winds down its role at Paducah following the end of enrichment operations beginning last summer. “Starting this week, security at the site will transition to a non-production posture that better matches the current activity level. These steps are part of the overall process of adjusting plant operations to the cessation of enrichment,” USEC spokesman Paul Jacobson said in a statement. “Key security controls will remain in place and USEC will continue to provide robust protection for nuclear material, classified material and information as well as the plant’s physical and proprietary assets. We will continue to have a sizable contingent of well-trained security officers on payroll going forward.”
The company has said it has notified 110 workers of potential layoffs in February, but USEC declined to say yesterday how many security guards will be laid off this month. According to local reports, 44 security workers have been laid off. “We did expect there were going to be reductions in our department, unfortunately, the reductions turned out to be deeper than what we thought,” USEC security worker Ryan Brown told Paducah news station WPSD. Brown expressed concern about the newly unmanned security checkpoint on the plant access road.
USEC said that its security changes were approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Energy. “This checkpoint is located well outside the fenced portion of the facility. The DOE reservation is 3,500 acres and the fenced portion of the plant is 750 acres. This checkpoint is well outside the fenced area and it is not part of a fenced boundary. Security controls remain in place for anyone entering the plant’s fenced perimeter or controlled access area,” Jacobson said. He added later: “Over the next several months, USEC will return the leased plant facilities to DOE. At that point, as the plant’s owner, DOE will be exclusively responsible for determining how the site will be protected.”
