Global Security Newswire

The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee is bolstering security after having been criticized recently for security lapses, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported today (see GSN, May 7).

Contractors are adding guards and installing equipment such as iris scanners at Y-12, according to plant general manager Dennis Ruddy.

The number of armed guards, many of them with special terrorism training, now exceeds 400, he said.

“We’ve added a lot of guards in a lot of different posts,” Ruddy said. “The details of that we’re obviously not at liberty to discuss. But the fact of the matter is we’ve redeployed our people around the plant.”

Y-12 visitors now must register at an off-site location. At the main entrance, they must drive under low-hanging bars, intended to restrict traffic only to cars. Cars are subject to random searches, and trucks and other large vehicles must use another entrance, where they are searched and scanned, Ruddy said.

“We do 100-percent inspection,” he said. “That’s related to the size of the vehicle and what can be hidden there versus what could be hidden in a passenger car,” Ruddy added.

In a policy speech last month, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced plans for tighter security at nuclear facilities, possibly even federalizing the guard force. Abraham singled out Y-12 for security improvements (Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, June 1).