Posted on 08/02/2012 5:06:04 AM PDT by EBH
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) Nuclear operations were temporarily halted Wednesday at a Tennessee complex that stores and processes uranium after three protesters, including a nun, were able to intrude into a high-security area over the weekend. The Y-12 National Security Complex said all nuclear material is safe.
The temporary stand-down was expected to end by next week. Special nuclear material will be moved to vaults on site, and contractor security personnel will undergo training and refresher instruction.
The protesters were found hanging banners in the dark and singing on Saturday and offering to break bread with the security guards at the Oak Ridge complex, officials said. They were arrested.
The nuclear complex regularly gets protesters and activists to the site around the August anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I doubt they got even near anything important, but still an embarrassment.
They got over the last fence. (4 fences) in a facility that is authorized to shoot to kill after the first breach. They got to the buildings!
If they could do that...a few islamic extremists could cause great mayhem...
You have to remember that killing unarmed protesters, especially a nun/pretty girl/etc , would do more damage to the facility through politics than terrorists ever could.
Friends blog tells more of 3 protesters Y-12 actions
http://www.oakridger.com/newsnow/x1253625021/Friend-s-blog-tells-more-of-3-protesters-Y-12-actions
According to information on a blog written by Ellen Barfield, who describes herself as a friend, the three protesters, “calling themselves Transform Now Plowshares, hammered on the cornerstone of the newly built Highly-Enriched Uranium Manufacturing Facility (HEUMF), splashed human blood and left four spray-painted tags on the recent construction, which read: Woe to the empire of blood; The fruit of justice is peace; Work for peace not for war; and Plowshares please Isaiah.’”
Wyatt said the protesters “put themselves at great risk.” He said security forces could have shot the protesters. “We’re thankful that didn’t happen.”
The protesters have been involved in other similar incidents at other federal facilities and each has served time in federal prison.
Walli and Boertje-Obed were convicted of defacing a federal facility and trespassing charges in 2006 at a missile facility in Garrison, N.D. Boertje-Obed was released from prison in 2007, and Walli was released seven months ago in January, according to records.
Rice, a Catholic nun, spent time in prison for actions to close the School of the Americas/WHINSEC at Fort Benning, Ga. She was also convicted of trespassing in the “Creech 14” protest case stemming from a Las Vegas case that targeted Creech Air Force Base and the use of unmanned drones.
Plans to cut Y-12 staff havent changed despite security breach
http://oakridgetoday.com/2012/08/01/plans-to-cut-y-12-staff-havent-changed-despite-security-breach/
Any chance we can have them jump the fence at 1600 Penn Ave in DC?
They know they would be shot there.
That was the idea!
If I am a Wahabbist terrorist, I would don the mantle of ‘anti-nuke protester’ and probe the defenses of nuclear facilities under that guise.
I wonder if DoE at Oak Ridge had cut back on security as well?
Lock them in the room with the Cobalt 60 for thirty minutes..
Ping plans to cut security.
Hey Laz,
Sort of my thinking. What the heck was security thinking? Or maybe they were all asleep.
I tell folks that most of us have absolutely no idea how damaging a bad administration (Carter, Clinton, 0bama) really is ... most of the damage is hidden. Like this.
The plan to cut up to 34 security police officer jobs at the Y-12 National Security Complex hasnt changed, despite a breach of a high-security area early Saturday morning
Should read "security personnel will be FIRED!"
This is happening across the DOE nuclear complex. Los Alamos is planning to cut 31 more security officers due to budget cutbacks.
Armed guards should shoot to kill when people invade a secure area.
They do not come in peace. They come to rid the US of our arsenal. They believe that Iran is perfectly permitted to “defend” themselves with nukes.
When they denounce Castro and other dictators who held nukes, maybe they can more justly claim themselves to be in good standing as patriotic citizens.
There are plenty of places to hold protest. Illegal entry to do so is not just.
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