In a stunning security embarrassment at the Y-12 National Security Complex, three peace activists—including an 82-year-old nun—sneaked into the Oak Ridge plant’s highest-security zone during the middle of the night and spray-painted messages on the walls of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility, draped banners and splashed human blood onto the premises as a protest against plans to spend additional billions on weapons production. The activists, who proclaimed themselves the “Transform Now Plowshares,” were apprehended at about 4:30 a.m. July 28 after they reportedly triggered a sensor on the plant’s PIDAS (perimeter intrusion detection and assessment system) as they approached the hardened storehouse that contains the nation’s primary stockpile of bomb-grade uranium. The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General is already planning to launch an investigation of the incident, and federal charges are pending against the three protesters: Michael R. Walli, 63, of Washington, D.C.; Sister Megan Rice, 82, of Nevada; and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, of Duluth, Minn. They were scheduled to be arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Steven Wyatt, a spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration, emphasized that no nuclear material was at risk from the intrusion, and he said it was fortunate no one was injured or killed in the incident. “The protesters put themselves at a high risk of losing their life in performing this act. We are thankful that did not occur,” Wyatt said. He said there are signs inside the plant’s Protected Area that warn unauthorized intruders are subject to deadly force. The spokesman acknowledged that the penetration by protesters to Y-12’s production area was unprecedented. “There’s never been a situation like this before to my knowledge,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll learn from this, without question, and use what we learn to improve security.”
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