Todd Jacobson
NS&D Monitor
9/5/2014
The Department of Energy’s Office of Enforcement is investigating a potential security violation at the Y-12 National Security Complex that occurred just before new Y-12/Pantex contractor Consolidated Nuclear Security took over management of the facilities. In a Sept. 3 letter to CNS President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Haynes, Office of Enforcement and Office of Enterprise Assessments Director Steven Simonson declined to provide any details about the June 2014 “security event,” noting only that it involved the “potential mishandling and unauthorized access to classified information.” He said the investigation will include an onsite visit Oct. 6-9 and interviews with CNS personnel. NNSA spokesman Steven Wyatt declined to comment on the incident this week, as did CNS spokesman Jason Bohne.
Simonson said in his letter that former Y-12 contractor B&W Y-12 was also notified that an investigation is being conducted, but it’s unclear whether B&W Y-12 officials—who are no longer at the site—will be part of the investigation. The incident occurred in June 2014 during transition to CNS, which took over the Y-12 management and operating contract July 1. It’s unclear how B&W Y-12, a team that included Babcock & Wilcox and CNS lead Bechtel, could be punished retroactively after the expiration of its contract, though NNSA has yet to release B&W Y-12’s final fee determination for its work during Fiscal Year 2014.
CNS in Charge of Response to Incident
Simonson said that although the incident happened on B&W Y-12’s watch, CNS would be responsible for implementing any corrective actions. “Although work practices that led to the discovery of this security event were established by B&W Y-12, Consolidated Nuclear Security, LLC (CNS) was awarded the M&O contract effective July 1, 2014, and became responsible for the response to this security event,” Simonson said in his letter to Haynes.
If serious, the incident would represent an embarrassing conclusion to B&W Y-12’s tenure at the site. The contractor’s term was marred by the July 2012 break-in by three elderly peace activists, who were able to penetrate the most secure areas of the site, triggering a massive security shakeup at the site and across the weapons complex and ultimately contributing to a loss by a B&W-led team in the pursuit of a consolidated Y-12/Pantex contract.
