Following last week’s news that a contractor walked out the front door of another nuclear facility in Tennessee with nuclear enrichment pipes, here’s today’s news below: It looks like the driver of a stolen car crashed into the gate of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant and ran away on foot. Why was he not pursued? We’ve run across situations at other facilities where guards at nuclear weapons sites are not allowed to pursue an intruder if they leave the premises. Of course, wouldn’t want guards to abandon the front gate, but by the time the police arrive, an intruder could be gone. Not sure yet if that is what happened here.
-- Beth Daley
Man crashes car into nuclear weapons plant barrier, flees
Posted by Associated Press July 30, 2007 9:54 AM
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- A man crashed a car into a barrier outside the nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge early Monday and fled on foot, authorities said.
The driver was stopped at a security checkpoint near the rear entrance to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant around 5 a.m. EDT, Y-12 spokesman Bill Wilburn said. Guards reported "he appeared to be impaired in some way."
Asked for identification, the man drove through the check point and crashed into deployed security barriers a short distance away, Wilburn said.
"When he hit that, he jumped out of the car and ran away. He left the car there with the engine still running. According to what they told me, the car had been hot-wired," Wilburn said.
Oak Ridge police were searching for the man, who appeared to be running toward town.
Wilburn had no other details about the car or its driver.
Steve Wyatt, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in Oak Ridge, which oversees the Y-12 plant, downplayed the significance of the event. "Next to nothing," he said.
The Y-12 plant makes and dismantles uranium parts in nuclear warheads. It also is the government's primary storehouse for bomb-grade uranium.
Point 1, this is a very sensitive facility. should we really be securing it with minimal staff? should we even allow it to be a possibility that we only have enough people there to check ID at the gates. shouldn't we have enough security staff on hand at any time to work the gate in addition to chase people who appear to be crazy around the woods who just crashed into our security barriers?
Point 2, having to do with this incident being "Next to nothing" Haven't these people who claim to be experts in the area of security heard of the "Enemy" testing our security? In situations like this a broken down white panel van should never be viewed as a broken down white panel van. It could be a test. It could be a very serious test, one designed to see how our security reacts to such things.
Point 3, there simply should be no way to escape on foot after crashing into a security barrier at this facility. its obviously not sufficient. what if this had been an organized assault with multiple vehicles loaded with explosives? the first vehicle crashes into the barrier, the driver runs away, moments later the first vehicle explodes and clears the barrier. then the next vehicle comes, and the next one. I feel confident in saying that our current enemies have proven that they don't care if they die so long as they take a few of us with them. so in reality the first vehicle's driver pushes the big red button while he is still in the drivers seat.
Posted by: Mrobvious | Jul 31, 2007 at 12:31 AM