Anonymously contributed:
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82 year old nun infiltrates highest security area of Y-12
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If this story is true, it will have ramifications across the weapons complex.
"Three peace activists -- including an 82-year-old nun -- infiltrated the highest-security area of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in a predawn protest Saturday, reportedly evading guards and cutting through three or four fences in order to spray-paint messages, hang banners and pour human blood at the site where warhead parts are manufactured and the nation's stockpile of bomb-grade uranium is stored.
It was an unprecedented security breach at the Oak Ridge plant, which enriched the uranium for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II and continues to be a mainstay of the U.S. nuclear defense program."
"Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration at Y-12, declined to discuss details of the early-morning events at the Oak Ridge, but he acknowledged that the unapproved entry into the plant's inner sanctum -- a high-security zone known simply as the Protected Area -- was unprecedented.
"There's never been a situation like this before to my knowledge," Wyatt said Saturday afternoon.
If unarmed protesters dressed in dark clothing could reach the plant's core during the cover of dark, it raised questions about the plant's security against more menacing intruders."
Full story:
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/07/wrap-up-on-y-12.htmlFull story
Comments
"the plant's inner sanctum -- a high-security zone known simply as the Protected Area"... SNM is kept in the MAA - not the Protected Area.
I would question whether the intruders cut through the PIDAS fence without immediate detection & apprehension.
If so, I would be replacing a whole bunch of security folks.
Wackenhut at its best.
CAT-I facilities like this are designed to successfully defend against a dedicated team of well armed terrorist.
3 peace activists (including an 82 year old nun) don’t quite meet the design criteria.
Hard to use earthly controls on those well connected with the Holy Spirit. They kinda walk their own path.
But be assured. She was never a threat. An embarrassment perhaps, but not a threat. Wouldn't hurt a fly; maybe talk you to death, pray you into boredom, even whack your knuckles, but nothing more.
Glad that she wasn't injured in the stunt. Her guardian angel probably is used to working overtime with that one.
nor the terrorist dressed as a nun.
“Around 4:30 a.m., Y-12's protective force responded to a sensor on the PIDAS (perimeter intrusion detection and assessment system) that indicated an unauthorized entry into the so-called Protected Area,…”
Why they weren’t immediately interrupted when cutting the exterior PIDAS fence is a stunner. These 3 rather docile folks cut the exterior PIDAS fence, crossed the PIDAS sensor field, cut the interior PIDAS fence & made it to the exterior wall of the MAA. It would appear that security personnel were dead asleep.
"The protesters put themselves at a high risk of losing their life in performing this act.” LOL, what a hoot
Frank Munger
Source: The Knoxville News-Sentinel, Tenn.
Created: July 31, 2012
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/07/how-serious-is-the-y-12-securi.html
That would more correctly be the tall building at the southwest corner of the Lab.
Congress should step in and move the weapons complex out from DoE before another event happens.
They’ll probably provide emergency funding of $100mil to upgrade the NNSA site security systems. Obviously, the old design basis threat (graded security protection plan) didn’t include an 82 yo nun.
As it is, it will be forgotten within a week.
Sound like a large, angry crowd of protesters is expected this year and they may cause disruptions. Hope they behave.
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2012/08/wrap-up-on-another-stunning-da.html
“In an extraordinary effort to address more security concerns following Saturday's break-in by protesters at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, the government's contractor shut down all nuclear operations, placed the working stocks of enriched uranium in secure vaults, and set up a schedule for thousands of Y-12 workers to take refresher courses on security do's and don'ts.”
if not, & elderly nuns sighted in the crowd, use deadly force by all means.