March 17, 2014

WATCHDOG GROUP CALLS FOR MORE FIRINGS AFTER Y-12 SECURITY BREACH

By ExchangeMonitor

B&W Y-12’s termination of Y-12 protective force contractor WSI-Oak Ridge doesn’t go far enough to fix security problems uncovered in the wake of a July 28 security breach at Y-12, the Project on Government Oversight said earlier this week, suggesting that the site management and operating contractor and federal officials should face harsher penalties. In a statement, POGO Senior Investigator Peter Stockton said that like WSI-Oak Ridge, B&W Y-12 should be fired for its part in the security breach, and headquarters officials should be dismissed. Thus far, the only NNSA headquarters executive to face disciplinary action has been Defense Nuclear Security chief Doug Fremont, who has been reassigned while the agency reviews its security structure. “The only person fired after the security breach was the lowest man on the totem pole, the guard who stopped the peace activists,” Stockton said in a statement. “Now, the only entity being held accountable is again the security contractor. Neither the prime contractor that runs the lab [sic], nor the federal overseers at NNSA who are responsible for the complex, have had to face any consequences. It is time that they do.”

POGO’s comments echo those made by Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee. In a statement Friday after NNSA asked B&W Y-12 to terminate WSI-Oak Ridge’s contract, Turner questioned the federal accountability and said “much more needs to be done to change the systemic culture of mismanagement and excuses that continues to pervade at this NNSA facility and others.” POGO and Turner differ, however, on other approaches to fixing the security problems. While Turner introduced legislation that would have the military protect weapons complex sites, POGO called for DOE to federalize the guard force “to standardize and professionalize security in the nuclear weapons complex.” Federalizing the guard force—aligning the guards with the officers that protect nuclear material in transit—was considered and dismissed by DOE several years ago. “This security solution needs to be put back on the table,” Stockton said.

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