WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A shocking security breach at what was supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the United States has put new attention on a proposal to overhaul the way the government oversees its nuclear laboratories and weapons plants.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives approved a plan to give more flexibility to the contractor-run facilities that make up the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, part of its annual defense policy bill passed in May.
The governance reforms were geared to address a long legacy of cost overruns and overly bureaucratic management highlighted in several bipartisan reports on the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is part of the Energy Department.
But some critics say the proposals need a second look in the wake of a July break-in at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a contractor-run facility built after the September 11, 2001 al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, once touted as "the Fort Knox of uranium" because of its security features.
Three aging anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, cut through fences surrounding a facility where highly enriched uranium, a key component of nuclear bombs, is stored. They vandalized its exterior, going unstopped until they walked up to a security guard's car and surrendered.
"It seems to me this is a great case study of the fact that what you want is more government oversight," said Peter Stockton, an investigator with the Project on Government Oversight who has extensively studied nuclear security issues.
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