The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General dismissed in a newly released inspection report allegations of security concerns at a facility that houses special nuclear material at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The April 20 report, made public Tuesday, said the IG had received a complaint about security issues at ORNL’s Building 3019, a facility that stores special nuclear materials — which are either plutonium, uranium-233, or uranium enriched in the isotopes uranium-233 or uranium-235. These concerns included claims that unauthorized personnel had access to the special nuclear material staging area; false alarms at the facility led to a less responsive protective force; and managers “showed a lack of concern” over security issues.
The IG said that while some of the situations in the complaint exist, these adhere to approved procedures and the complainant likely did not fully understand the operations at the facility. For example, according to ORNL officials, the special nuclear material staging area was “not designed to prevent access, but to prevent unauthorized individuals from performing certain actions upon the SNM and to prevent the escape of such individuals.”
The IG also said it did not find any indications of a diminished response to alarms at the facility, or that managers showed a lack of concern – in fact, “the majority of employees we interviewed believed managers would respond appropriately to security issues,” it said.
The IG identified some concerns with vehicle searches at ORNL entry portals – specifically, two cases in which the security officers did not fully complete vehicle searches involving sealed shipping containers. The report said a senior protective force official in response to the finding issued clarified procedures for such situations.
While there were false alarms in Building 3019, “due, in part, to the selection and configuration of alarm system components,” system upgrades already being made are due to be finished within a couple months, the IG said.
The IG said it is not making any recommendations in its report.
