The Department of Energy privately warned White House officials in late
March that it lacked the funds to adequately protect the nation's nuclear
weapons research facilities shortly after the administration had offered
public assurances that security was more than adequate.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and the Pentagon, concerns have
mounted among lawmakers and terrorism experts about lax security at some
of these weapons facilities, prompting congressional review.
The Energy Department's chief financial officer complained in a March
28 letter that the White House budget office had rejected a request for
increased funding in the current fiscal year to provide for beefed up
security at government research laboratories. The letter from Bruce M.
Carnes warned that DOE was at "a critical juncture" and that its
safeguards and security budget were not sufficient to meet the potential
terrorism challenge.
"We are disconcerted that OMB refused our security supplemental
request," Carnes said in a letter to Marcus Peacock, a senior official for
the Office of Management and Budget. "This isn't a tenable position for
you to take, in my view."
The letter was written two months after John A. Gordon, an
undersecretary of energy and the administrator of the department's
National Nuclear Security Administration, publicly declared that security
precautions are strong at the nuclear research laboratories and along the
network used to transport nuclear materials. He said allegations that the
Energy Department had lax security at its nuclear weapons facilities "are
false and misleading."
Gordon was responding to warnings from Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.)
and a watchdog group that terrorist commandos could gain access to
weapons-grade nuclear material and rapidly construct and detonate nuclear
weapons because of grossly inadequate security at many of the nation's
nuclear weapons research sites. According to a study last year by the
Project on Government Oversight (POGO), federal agents posing as
"commandos" in mock exercises were able to breach security at nuclear
laboratories more than half the time.
Yesterday, Markey released copies of the Carnes letter and called on
President Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to address the
security problem and explain Gordon's statements playing down security
problems.
"The Administration has requested almost $8 billion for missile
defense, which won't do anything to prevent suicidal terrorists from
attacking nuclear facilities and blowing up dirty bombs or homemade
nuclear weapons," said Markey, a senior member of the House Energy and
Commerce Committee. "But when DOE finally admits that security is not what
it should be, OMB refuses to help."
Amy Call, an OMB spokeswoman, said that after the Sept. 11 attacks,
Congress approved a $111 million supplement to the fiscal 2002 budget to
enhance security at nuclear weapons laboratories. The White House is
seeking an additional $665 million for lab security and related expenses
in the fiscal 2003 budget, she said. The Energy Department's recent
request for more money remains under review, she said, while officials
conduct a comprehensive assessment of the vulnerabilities of the
facilities.
At the Energy Department, spokeswoman Lisa Cutler said that the letter
from Carnes does not contradict Gordon because security at the facilities
remains strong.
If the funding request continues to be denied, security needs will be
met, "even if we have to shift priorities from another program in the
department," Cutler said. "We believe our security is adequate and strong,
and that our nuclear facilities are among the most secure facilities in
the world and present a formidable challenge to any terrorist
organization."
The U.S. nuclear weapons facilities managed by the Energy Department
hold weapons-grade plutonium and highly enriched uranium in sufficient
quantities to create nuclear devices. Many are near major metropolitan
areas, such as Denver and San Francisco.
"I am concerned that a group of suicidal terrorists would not bother to
attempt to steal nuclear weapons materials from these sites," Markey said
in his letter to Bush. "Instead they would gain access to the nuclear
materials located within them by killing the security guard forces, and,
once inside the facility, would construct and detonate dirty bombs or
homemade nuclear bombs."
The internal administration dispute over security at the research
laboratories stems from Abraham's March 14 request to OMB Director
Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. for supplemental funding to cover both emergency
responses to potential terrorist attacks and enhanced security at the
facilities.
Neither OMB nor DOE officials would reveal how much additional money
the Energy Department is seeking in fiscal 2002.
OMB agreed to ask Congress for additional funds for emergency
responses, but it rejected the request for more money for security at the
laboratories pending completion of a revision of the Design Basis Threat,
a document that outlines the basis for physical security measures.
"We are not operating, and cannot operate under the pre-Sept. 11 Design
Basis Threat," Carnes wrote to the OMB in March. "Until that is revised,
we must operate under interim Implementing Guidance, and you have not
provided resources to enable us to do so."
Earlier this month, Gordon again told reporters that government
officials took a "hard look" at the safety of nuclear weapons facilities
after Sept. 11 and that he was "pretty satisfied with where we are." He
also reiterated his view that the sites would be difficult to strike and
not highly attractive to terrorists.
