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RE: Security at U.S. Nuclear Labs Called Unacceptable
Markey has certainly provided us with a lot of dribble and drivel over the
years, but he is, happily enough, a Representative, not a Senator, AND the
point he is making about current Administration budget games and their
impact on laboratory security seems entirely germane.
Best regards.
Jim Dukelow
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Richland, WA
jim.dukelow@pnl.gov
These comments are mine and have not been reviewed and/or approved by my
management or by the U.S. Department of Energy.
-----Original Message-----
From: Sandy Perle [mailto:sandyfl@EARTHLINK.NET]
Sent: Tuesday, August 20, 2002 12:28 PM
To: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu; powernet@hps1.org
Subject: Security at U.S. Nuclear Labs Called Unacceptable
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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