Security at U.S. Nuclear Labs Called Unacceptable

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET>]

More dribble form the honorable senator from MA:



Security at U.S. Nuclear Labs Called Unacceptable



WASHINGTON Aug 20 (Reuters) - The Bush administration is not doing 

enough to secure U.S. nuclear weapons facilities from terrorists, who 

could quickly use materials stored there to make atomic bombs, a 

Democratic congressman alleged in a new report on Tuesday. 



Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Edward Markey said lax security at 

Department of Energy ( news - web sites) facilities such as New 

Mexico's Los Alamos National Laboratory and California's Lawrence 

Livermore National Laboratory posed "an unacceptable level of risk 

that terrorists could successfully target these sites." 



Markey, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, 

blamed Bush administration budget cuts and foot-dragging by the 

Energy Department almost a year after the Sept. 11 attacks. 



"It is clear that the DOE has continued its long tradition of 

aggressive indifference to the security of its nuclear weapons 

facilities," he said. "Incredibly, the White House has twice refused 

to fund security activities described by the secretary of energy as 

'urgent security needs."' 



The report was based on more than 250 pages of documents provided to 

Markey by the Energy Department. Ten major U.S. nuclear facilities, 

many located near urban areas, hold enough weapons-grade plutonium or 

enriched uranium to build crude nuclear bombs, it said. 



The Energy Department in March requested almost $380 million in extra 

funds to bolster its nuclear security measures, but the bulk of the 

request was denied by the White House Budget Office. 



Congress then included $138 million for nuclear security in a recent 

emergency spending bill, but President Bush ( news - web sites) said 

he would not spend that money, or another $5 billion in other 

congressional priorities, due to budget constraints. 



"The president is playing a dangerous game when he vetoes critical 

security resources as a strategy to revive the economy," Markey said. 

The report said the Department of Energy had reduced the numbers of 

security guards at nuclear facilities by nearly 40 percent in the 

last 10 years, he said. 



Energy Department officials were not available for comment on 

Tuesday.



-------------------------------------------------

Sandy Perle

Director, Technical

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service

ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue

Costa Mesa, CA 92626



Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100  Extension 2306

Fax:(714) 668-3149



E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net

E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com



Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/

ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/



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