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Duncan Mansfield / AP
The Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge, Tenn., is seen in this July 10, 2007, photo.
The U.S. government's only facility for handling, processing and storing weapons-grade uranium has been temporarily shut after anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, breached security fences, government officials said on Thursday.
WSI Oak Ridge, the contractor responsible for protecting the facility at Oak Ridge, Tenn., is owned by the international security firm G4S, which was at the center of a dispute over security at the London Olympic Games.
Officials said the facility was shut down on Wednesday at least until next week after three activists cut through perimeter fences to reach the outer wall of a building where highly enriched uranium, a key nuclear bomb component, is stored.
The activists painted slogans and threw what they said was human blood on the wall of the facility, one of numerous buildings in the facility known by the code name Y-12 that it was given during World War Two, officials said.
While moving between the perimeter fences, the activists triggered sensors that alerted security personnel. But officials conceded the intruders were still able to reach the building's walls before security personnel got to them.
3 face charges
Ellen Barfield, a spokeswoman for the activists who called themselves "Transform Now Plowshares," said three were arrested and charged with vandalism and criminal trespass.
She said the three, identified as Megan Rice, 82, Michael Walli, 63 and Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, were being held in custody and appeared for a hearing before a U.S. magistrate judge in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Thursday.
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A detention hearing is set for Friday afternoon, when prosecutors must show the defendants are a flight risk and a danger to the community in order to keep them in custody, according to court officials. The trial date is Oct. 9.
Barfield forwarded a statement from the group in which it said the activists had passed through four fences and walked for "over two hours" before reaching the uranium storage building, on which they hung banners and strung crime-scene tape.
Ralph Hutchinson, coordinator for the Oak Ridge Environmental Peace Alliance, said the group's intention was not to demonstrate the lack of security at the plant, but to take a stance against the making of nuclear weapons.
"It wasn't so they could show how easy it was to bust into this bomb plant, it was because the production of nuclear weapons violates everything that is moral and good," Hutchinson said. "It is a war crime."
Building contents secure, officials say
Officials said that the storage building itself, which was built after the Sept. 11, 2001, al-Qaida attacks on New York and Washington, was designed with modern security features and that its contents were not compromised.
WSI Oak Ridge, the private firm employed by the U.S. Department of Energy to provide security at Y-12, is a subsidiary of the giant international security firm G4S.
G4S drew criticism for failing to provide the number of security personnel it promised to protect the London Olympic Games, forcing the British government to deploy extra army troops.
A spokeswoman for G4S declined to comment and referred inquiries to government spokespeople.
The security failure was an embarrassment both for the security firm and for the National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, the Energy Department branch that operates U.S. nuclear weapons plants. "It was obviously a pretty serious incident," NNSA spokesman Joshua McConaha told Reuters.
"We're taking this very, very seriously," added Steve Wyatt, a spokesman for the NNSA office in Oak Ridge, which supervises the activities of Y-12 contractors.
The NNSA officials said the activists cut through two chain-link fences surrounding the sprawling facility and a third fence surrounding the ultra-secure enriched uranium stockpile building, known as the "Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility."
Wyatt said the building served as the U.S. government's only "warehouse" for storing highly enriched uranium used in nuclear weapons.
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Highly enriched uranium is a radioactive material used in the core of bombs to produce a nuclear detonation. The Oak Ridge plant is one of the most important government installations involved in the maintenance and production of the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Although the security breach occurred overnight last Friday, officials confirmed that the shutdown - which applies to "all nuclear operations" at the Y-12 site - did not begin until Wednesday. Officials said it was expected to continue into next week.
In the meantime, personnel at the facility would be given additional security training.
Peter Stockton, a former congressional investigator and security consultant to the Energy Department, expressed skepticism at government assertions the nuclear material was not at risk.
"It is unbelievable this could happen," Stockton said. "The significance is outrageous. If they were terrorists, they could have blown open the door and got inside."
Stockton said the security breach was the "worst we've ever seen." He said it was more serious than the case of Wen Ho Lee, a Taiwan-born scientist who was suspected of espionage at the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory. He pleaded guilty in 2000 to a less severe charge when the case against him collapsed.
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Leave a Comment:
This a bad sign of so called security. Do they arm the guards with BB guns and use steel cans on a rope to for early warnings?? Fire WSI Oak Ridge and lock all the protesters up for a good long time, yes even Mother Theresa.
I think the protesters should be honored for their bravery and for exposing a serious security issue at this facility BEFORE a terrorist group was able to exploit this weakness. Otherwise we would not know today that this was even an issue...
LOL... Terrorists could walk in to our only weapons grade uranium plant but common citizens have to get molested to board a plane. Sure the Government knows what its doing with our security. They just want us to be f'ing slaves they dont know security from a hole in the head. They should rename The Department of Homeland Security to the Department of reactive idiocy.
My Government is good ...... they make me feel so safe! ... LOL ...
They "feel" me up if I board a plane ..to insure I'm not a "terrorist" and let "terrorist" gain entry to a uranium plant ...
Same group guarding the Olympics, Romney said that where weak. President should have listened.
We got goober and buckweat in the White House, and Cooter watching the nukes..... i feel real safe
Timeless ... are you a racist, scumbag or just a regular Republican?
Timeless,
At least we dont have curious George letting another handful of sandherders beating all defenses with box cutters and changing our entire country for the worse.
Upon reading the part about the so-called Human blood, I began to wonder how this information might have been communicated to the authorities...
Authorities: Okay... you know, you guys really scared us, especially the nun, because with all the radioactivity and stuff, when we first saw her we thought that she might be like a giant, wrinkled, mutant penguin! Very scary!
Activists: Oh yeah?! You know what else?!
Authorities: wh-what?
Activists: You know that red stuff that you saw?!
Authorities: Y-Y-Y-Yes!
Activists: That was BLOOD!!
Authorities: GASP! ....B-B-B-B-BLOOD?!!
Activists: Yeah, blood! But Not just any blood!
Authorities: N-N-No??
Activists: NO!... it was........ HUMAN BLOOD!!!
Authorities: AAAAAAAAHHHHhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!
Not a racist at all, just want some Hope and Changy around here, instead of the constant attacks on the White Community in America.
Sounds like Moe, Curly & Larry. Knuckleheads !!!
Banning guns works so well, do you want to ban boxcutters too?
So righteous now, we are. ~ Yoda
... why didn't you stand up when George was writing hot checks and recording everything that anyone said - under - wait for it... The Patriot AcT.... MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Darth Cheney said it was OK.
These people aren't protesters, they are anarchists and should be thrown in jail. How dare they?
If we were to feel safe with what we got from Arizona, for homeland security? Maybe you should check out how un-well she did for the Arizona Elderly. She was head D.A. and let a family of criminals, holding ten elderly in a motorhome without a license and stealing them blind, get away clean after court said cease,and desist operations, our D.A. did nothing to follow up on court order. they had a P.O. box and a fake Non-Profit and got away with hundreds of thousands of Dollars, thanks to their friend the D.A. Check it out and than she went to Gov. and than to Homeland. Go Figure !
Instead of hiring the WSI Oak Ridge rent-a-cops, they should have hired Wackenhut .... the Department of Homeland Security rent-a-cops. Bwahahaha
Great job homeland security! Time to clean house!
OH MY GOD!!! Bubbas with nukes!!! We're all gonna die!!! So much for the racial imbalance. No longer a problem.
Fedup, you got that right. Start with Janet "Do Nothing" Napolitano! Sounds like the taxpayer waste known as Y-12 can't secure it's way out of a paper bag!
Apparently they forgot some of the most important modern security features, such as automatic weapons systems tied to the sensors. By the time the interlopers got through FOUR fences, the sensors should have triggered automatic weapons to unleash a wall of lead at whatever set them off, in order to neutralize the threat to the EXTREMELY dangerous/sensitive premises! Anything less is an abject failure of security! Think about it....FOUR fences is more than enough to provide fair warning not to enter and, with a facility like that, there is absolutely NO margin for error!
82 year old Nun. Right on.
Wackenhut Security, a private contractor, has had the security at Y-12 for decades. I agree that they should be fired, I think our nuclear arsenal should be guarded by government personnel. This is Republican outsourcing of government functions to private industry. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying a fortune to a private security firm? Why not use the military? Air Force security police would be outstanding for this job. They already handle the security for strategic bomber bases, missile silos, and other sensitive targets. And they are a hell of a lot less expensive than these overpriced security guards. I personally know several of the guards at Y-12. They make nearly 100K a year. I can imagine what the company is being paid by out government. An airman makes 30 K, maybe 35 K a year, and they are evidently better at their job.
timeless fun - That was damn funny -LMAO!!!
Old Sarge this is your President Obama at work. The same group that was responsible for the security in London for the Olympics. Romney warned us, the Brits got mad and you liboturds tried to say he made an a** of himself. Looks like the the tards are the ones with sh*t on their face now.
TC-1944027
Old Sarge this is your President Obama at work
Wow...science fiction is ruling your thought process. How did your mind formulate that one? President Obama at work? Some of you posters really need to think before you post. Here is something for you that think this is a joking matter:
Instead of trying to compare this to 9/11, or joking about the ease that it apparently happened, just think about if security had opened fire on the group and killed all of them. By the way some of you think you would be coming down on the Government for securing the plant with deadly force. Either way you hypocrites would have something to run off at the mouth about.
82,63,57 yeah I feel safe. We should pin a metal on those old codgers for showing us how insecure that facility is. The security running that place should be behind bars.
This wasn't just any group of protesters! this was the over the hill gang, they were stealthy, their movements were so slow that the sensors could not detect them, they were so unhealthy that bad circulation prevented their bodies from warming up enough for thermal imaging, they were light as a feather so they never caused a vibration or even snapped a twig or set off a sensor, they could crawl under trip wires with ease and room to spare, no this was no ordinary group of protester's, this was the over the hill bunch and now we have them, and they will lead us to the old folks training facility, and we can shut it down for good and be done with them. till then beware of nursing homes and old folks retirement villages, anything suspicious should be reported.... Rather embarrassing for G4S don't you think? if this happened in the 70's there would have been fresh blood and lots of it. back then we didn't use two bit rent a cops, hired by some politicians son in law, with a multi million dollar budget and misfits hired at min wage. this really is serious.
If this place was untrasecure then they all would have been electrocuted to death trying to go through the second fence or blown up by the land mines when trying to get to the third.
What bugs me is this security problem is now known by every one of our enemies. Thanks media knuckleheads for making sure our problems are spread far and wide.
And for those who think it's fodder for jokes, it's not. There's nothing even remotely funny about it.
Throw them all in jail for a long time, except the nun, put her in an mental hospital as she is obviously suffering from dementia. She of all people should realize a group who advocates dismantling ones defenses is akin to Stanilist Russia who blew up all the churches and outlawed religion. And it all started with a call to beat all swords into plowshares.
There should have been sirens going off after the first fence had been breached as well as attack dogs and heavy patrols inside of the 2nd fence immediately converging. The 3rd fence should have the force to severely maim or kill when touched. The fourth fence should have been made out of very strong material with all sorts of concrete, steel, anything that would stop a heavy vehicle from breaching it and razor wire all over it and around it. There should also have been dozens of video cameras around as well tripping alarms.
That contractor needs to be fined and fired. They are obviously useless and incompetent. The people that did make it to the building should face felony trespassing charges and locked up in solitary. They are now a future danger. Send all of them to Gitmo!
Put the Air Force in as security. Those guys take there job seriously. This would not have happened.
In my opinion.
Old Sarge-3447849
Wackenhut Security, a private contractor, has had the security at Y-12 for decades. I agree that they should be fired, I think our nuclear arsenal should be guarded by government personnel. This is Republican outsourcing of government functions to private industry. Why are we, the taxpayers, paying a fortune to a private security firm? Why not use the military? Air Force security police would be outstanding for this job. They already handle the security for strategic bomber bases, missile silos, and other sensitive targets. And they are a hell of a lot less expensive than these overpriced security guards. I personally know several of the guards at Y-12. They make nearly 100K a year. I can imagine what the company is being paid by out government. An airman makes 30 K, maybe 35 K a year, and they are evidently better at their job.
Oldsarge,
you’re absolutely right. Why are we allowing a private company guards our
weapons grade uranium??? This is a job that should be handled by our arm forces,
not by some corrupt, over prized corporation. THIS IS A JOB THAT ONLY THE
GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE ALLOW TO DO!!! Instead of using our military to police the
world, and as an instrument of oppression to protect and procure money for the
corporations we should use them for what they were created for, to protect our
interests and our country.
Why is a facility like this in Tennessee anyway? That's one of them thar con-servative states ain't it? Processing plutonium is one o' them big gubmint progrums paid fer with TAX MONEY! Why don't these ignorant hayseeds practice what they preach? They rave about how they hate big government, but most conservative states are taking the first ones in line for government handouts. They take $2.00 to $5.00 out of the federal budget for every tax dollar they can pry themselves away from the still long enough to contribute. The USA would be a lot better off without 'em.
Oak Ridge Nuclear Laboratory has been there since the early forties. Before all this liberal bitching and moaning started. What is time to do is put the Army back in charge of security, I know you libs won't like that, the Army guards take security seriously and they tend to shoot trespassers. Just like happened in the 60's when a bunch of your founding fathers and mothers of modern liberalism breached the fences and ignored warnings from Army guards, getting fired on with machine guns. Put the Army back on duty, the world will be better off without all the little leftist commies.
Your left state handout queens, Illinois, California, New York, etc take the remaining 8 out of ten dollars for handouts and minority vote buying. I.E. ACORN, NBPP, La Raza, etc,etc,etc,. Funny how they are also mostly bankrupt, morally and financially.
I remember in the service of my country that in secure communications areas we had barbed wire,code names ,access codes, hand grenades, 45 auto pistols, and the right to shoot to kill if needed any person attempting to enter the area without proper I.D. The area was patrolled by armed troops at all times 24/7 . This is a shameful disgrace to all involved. I am retired and 68 yrs, old and you can get better security from our returning soldiers who are out of work in this nation, when will the people wake up and stop this waste of taxpayer dollars .???????
This is exactly what happens when privatization of important security and infrastructure-related jobs takes place. When you pay lousy wages with few or no benefits to people who have no loyalty or investment in what they are doing, this is the result. All over the country, to save a few bucks and pay lower taxes, we are systematically destroying everything from security to education. When school custodians, bus drivers, aides, substitute teachers, etc. are hired from anyone off the street who needs a few bucks, we are, indeed, in trouble. This, my friends, is the result of the "Reagan Revolution", and one of the main causes of the destruction of the middle class in America.
Remember The New Hope Center....They Hope For BETTER SECURITY.....RETARDS MUST RUN THIS JOINT....
Come on now, listen to your president...if we have uranium, we have to share it with the rest of the world right? I mean, to do otherwise would be greedy.
Besides, to keep the material away from Muslims just because they want to kill us would be racist anyway. It's just like we do at the airports now: grope caucasians, old ladies and babies in diapers, but make sire to let the muslims go right through. Anything else would be profiling right? Yeah...
truthmachine, go vote for the monkey in office you damn yankee. I'm guessing you will be at Chick-Fil-A tonight at 8.
You folks keep talking about the government like it's some sentient being. Goverment is us, folks, we the people, smart and dumb folks making decisions. It's more like the AI gone haywire. Government is not going to be any more entlligent than most the posters on the Vine!!! As for efficienct...you do the math.
Considering the nature of this facility being "protested" these protestors should have had there collective heads clubbed for trying to cut the fence (yeah, poor security) or been shot dead when they breached (with I TOLD YOU SO stamped on to their forheads.)
Otherwise, how fare should we take security? How determined should those charged with security be? How does one protect Enriched Uranium from protestors or "terrorists" and keep protestors safe? People really are stupid.
We spend $B's a year to police the world, yet we don't tend to our own domestic perils
Where were the dogs?? It is too bad these dummies didn't get there stupid butts chewed on...if guard dogs were indeed used. Better than any electric fence. And as far as whose fault it is, just remember who is in charge right now.
This facility should have been under trained military security at the highest level. Penetrators should be challenged and apprehended or shot if there is no compliance.
The article said these guys/gals walked for 2 hours to reach the building. At 82 that couldn't be all that far. Put some landmines and warning signs out between fencelines. That would stop vehicles from driving through them too. I know people should be punished, but don't waste taxpayer money on these three. Put em on probation and make pay a hefty fine and be done with it. And get some descent security there before someone that matters make their way in.
How about you get your lord and savior obama to stop renewing the patriot act, hypocrites!
What a joke. Time to give G4S the pink slip. The Boy Scouts could do a better job than this. Stop outsourcing to overpriced ineffective secondary contractors. Why can't our government use its own personnel, you know like say the army? Train them in security measures and let them patrol the fences. My guess would be a better job and cost less. Tired of these behind the scenes buddy buddy BS for politicians contractor friends. We all see how well those fools at Blackwater did in Iraq. Thanks for nothing! Stop the outsourcing and get this corrected now. This is totally unacceptable. All the other stupid crap that goes on related to security and infringing on citizens rights but they can't even get it right in a situation where it 100% matters. Not saying security on a plane isn't a big deal but this trumps that. Get it together you morons!
As for the activists, stupid stupid, but thanks for exposing this weakness for that no charges filed other than clean up the mess you made and probation.
It is time
These fools should have had the dogs unleashed on them at the very least, better yet, gunned down. Their actions should have been considered threatening enough as to justify the use of deadly force. This is a case where you should shoot first and ask questions later. With the president now set, we can expect similar hi-jinx from this or copy-cat groups till someone dies. I have no sympathy for these anarchists or their cause.
I agree with AnnoyedByIdiots that Mother Teresa and her companions exposed the security weakness and now at least we should learn from this and take security at all Uranium plants seriously.
#1: It starts with firing those private security contractors who in general are paid peanuts (close to minimum wage) and I wouldn't want them guarding our nuclear materials. We should cancel this outsourcing crap in DoD and bring in government folks to do the government work.
#2: Another person commented that there should have been multi-layered perimeter security, meaning if one layer is breached, the walls of the other layer automatically goes up and automatic remotely controlled guns are there to take care of the intruders. These three guys, including Mother Teresa, should have been shot dead instantly and sent to heaven as soon as they breached the security.
timelessfun banned for making racist remarks.
I agree 100%, old sarge. Sometimes outsourcing accomplishes nothing except moving a cost center outside the organization.
You Super Patriots were the ones that allowed it happen on your watch. Now you want to blame the clean-up crew for the problem?
After the trust is gone ... it's hard to go back to the Old ways. You Patriots, sold us all out when you didn't stop the travasty in the first place. Ever try to restore a virgin forest after it has been logged out. You might put the trees back - but it'll never be virgin again. Somethings - once lost are lost forever. We like to believe our government would NEVER do some of the stuff that BUSH was allowed to do... you fooled us!
and you still say - there are/were/remain WMD's?
WTF is going on with the security at one of the most dangerous institutions in America when 3 old geezers can reach the interior of the area SO EASILY AND OBVIOUSLY UNDETECTED?????
Good thing the terrorist who want to bring death and destruction to the US didn't accompany them.
I hope someone really high up looses their job over this one!
I think the head of security should be the FIRST to have his head on a stick immediately joined by the "security team" that was on duty.
OK, Okeeboy, I get your point. But "old geezers"? One was 63, another just 57. That hardly qualifies as "old" much less "old geezers." If you're lucky, maybe you will reach that age.
Maybe they all used hoverounds, thats how they beat the security team
Maybe obozo and Holdem should get some of them guns they sold to Mexico back and arm their security guards
timeless is a troll ............please don't feed him
This sure doesn't come as any surprise to me, during the later part of the eighties and up until Bill Clinton end our underground nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site I participated in and or helped facilitate numerous "excursions" into the test site inserting protesters at ground zero to interfere with scheduled test.
In one instance we had helped a group infiltrate the site three days before a scheduled test, the group positioned themselves within easy "striking distance" of ground zero but the prevailing winds ended up delaying the test for almost two full weeks during which time the support team repeatedly resupplied the "insurgents" with food and water every few day with what came to be dubbed "pizza runs" and in fact on a couple of occasions we did in fact deliver pizza.
Some of the other incursions involved setting up a communications relay system set up for broadcasting live as the teams progressed into the test site and live coverage at ground zero.
But maybe one of the best examples of how poorly these private security contracts protect this "top secret highly sensitive" sites was the occasion when two protesters hiked in and positioned themselves on a rise a short distance downwind from the central control center the day before a scheduled test, they then proceeded to fill over a hundred foil balloons with helium and set them adrift so that they sailed directly over the control center, once they ran out of balloons they abandoned their helium tanks picked up their packs and walked down to the road that led to the control center dressed in their military style camo and wearing backpacks. They hitched a ride INTO the command compound with a Wackenhut Security vehicle, went inside and spent about 10 minutes distributing anti-nuke pamphlets to the workers inside before it finally occurred to someone that something wasn't quite right at which point they were detained.
So anyone who is blaming Obama for the lax security, I've got news for you "Security Is An Illusion" has been for a long, long time and continues to be!
I believe you Ron, I also believe you should be in prison.
OVUgirl, no,if we're lucky he won't live anywhere near that long. Preservation of the species and all you know.
I've got a news flash for you Mikey, I have done my time, unlike the Republican gangsters who have yet to take responsibility for their actions and have yet to do their time. There are those like the GOTPers who talk a line of crap about "Personal Responsibility" and shirk those responsibilities and avoid accountability and then there are those of use who actually take full responsibility for our actions!
Ron putting yourself in danger at ground zero is just stupid and has nothing to do with the security breach of the no#1 facility.
So Ron, you did time well not enough, you failed to learn.
You run off like a Liberal living in fantasy land, take a good hard look at the world you live in. take a look at it without the bong hits its all F***ed up. now go back to sleep.
Yeah breaking into ground zero is not a good example. For most people a sign would suffice. You know the one with a skull and crossbones saying danger. Did you ever stop to think if you sneak in maybe that means they don't know you are there. Good thing you didn't do it during the Nixon or Johnson administration.
Timeless is just an old 1st Cav disabled soldier that fought his war and didnt ask to go but was drafted. So what that means my fellow wonderful liberal democrats is that i can say any frigging thing i want to because not a one of you pussys is as good as a pimple on my ass. So when i say that obama is buckwheat and has destroyed this country just listen up, and take it like a man and stop with the drinking of the obama cool-aid. I will forgive you all for voting for the "blackman" because it was the "right" thing to do, so now that you have learned your lessons, maybe you will vote for the better man this time... Obuckwheat has shown us what he knows, and we have proved once again, that socialism does not work..
Can someone please explain why I can't vote for the post for Timeless? Why is it that sometimes the posts do not have the option to be voted up or "reported?"
Edit:
Maybe it's just my computer because now the option is there???
One could only imagine what would have happened if those people were serious terrorists with RPGs, AKs and a few pounds of C-4. A few idiots with a fence cutter got to the door of one of the most important and supposedly most secure buildings handling enriched uranium we have. Wow!! Maybe those guys should contact the Iranians and see how they protect their enriched stuff, somebody better lose their job over this, somebody fairly high up!!
And it was an 82-year old that led the charge. What about the fact they were wandering around in there for 2 hours and the security says we saw them but couldnt get to them in time? This sounds pretty weird.
And if security had shot them all down, as they should have, you would all be crying about how bloodthirsty security is and be demanding they all be jailed, then continue ranting about how we're living in a police state.
Yes, if deadly force is ever warranted, this would be the place.
These people should be honored they know we have no sane reason for all this deadly material. How can America with a straight face tell anyone they don,t need WMDs? We should be leading the world towards disarmament instead of destruction. That was obvious 60 years ago.
How can anyone want to use deadly force on an 82 year old woman protesting nuclear insanity.
How can the United States, with a straight face, criticise the Russians, or any other nation, for their security regarding nuclear material?
How are security personnel to know what anyone is up to in a secure area. Are you saying there is a cut-off age for terrorists? Terrorists would never or have never posed as something other than what they are?
They say there was never any danger.........DUH. These old folk got to the wall of the building. Had they been terrorist much damage could have been done. What has to happen for them to consider that some danger existed? They should have been stopped long before reaching the outer wall of the building, however, I am of the mindset they should have been shot prior to getting that close to the building and of course had they not been shot then security should have been shot. In fact I still might consider shooting security for allowing the breach to move to such an advance stage.
Dang, Ken. You're a six-gun slingin' shoot-em-up son of gun.
That makes sense Ken. They need another guy like you at DHS with no common sense. So all the terrorists have to do is dress like old people and walk their way into a weapons grade uranium plant. That sounds as crazy as a few guys with box cutters crashing planes into buildings and stripping American Citizens of rights that millions gave life and limb for. Not to mention create another BLOATED Government Agency that obviously has not got a clue like Department of Homeland Security. You think they ought to be securing places like this??? Good grief..
Sorry but this kind of conduct there should be 3 bodies not 3 arrest.
Cant do that. I work in a similar place and until they try to take something away we are not allowed to use deadly force. Its pretty much that way all over. The most they will get charged with is trespassing. And the really old one maybe passing gas. Seriously.
Where do you work Thomas? Kmart???? If someone is in the act of committing a felony, deadly force is justified... This was a security breach, not shop-lifting a loaf of bread...
Funny, when I trained in nuclear physical security, we were taught to shoot first ask questions later. I guarantee you that there are signs on the perimeter stating exactly that. If by some slim chance there aren't, we need to remove civilian security companies from the job and assign soldiers that will do the job right.
Well I am sure once they got to the door and actually tried to open with like say
with one of those crow-bar’s, thing’s
would have been just a little bit different.. And oh like buy the way I pretty
darn certain that they don’t just leave enriched weapons grade uranium laying
around in Tupperware containers, and I’ll bet you only a select few have direct
full access to that sort of silly stuff that’s most likely locked away in
something a bit more substantial than an old gym locker.
Committing a felony doesn't mean you're subject ot deadly force. Where do you guys come up with this stuff.
maybe a mine field would slow them down. They would get a bang out of it.
Had they tried this at fort knox all h__— would have broken loose, and that's just money!
Nah, Ft Knox is probably empty now since we don't really run on a gold based currency anymore, it's all just paper and the gvt's word that it's worth something.
Fort Knox is full of IOUs. The only hazard there is fire from all of them piled to the ceiling.
These three are really just old Hippies from the 1960's.
Maybe their retirement plans were insufficient and they need "room and board"...... they got it. AND .. HEY, be careful with that hippy from the 60's crap !! LOL LOL I wonder if they would meet me at Fort Knox, I have an idea !! lol lol lol When they get out of course.
pretty sorry state of affairs. but, the repulsivcans are cutting back on spendinng.
Dan the demoncrats aint doin a bad job either. How about the money reids spending on a railway that starts in the middle of nowhere and goes to vegas? Called the x-train. already wasted 8 billion on it.
STEREOTYPING, INTOLERANCE, BIGOTRY--30 years hard labor for you.
Dan - the dummycraps are the ones that want to cut defense spending and this episode ABSOLUTELY, without a doubt, falls under the heading of national defense! I realize that ignorance is bliss, but DAMN you just took it to a new level!!! You probably even need to clean yourself up now...
Save your pennies and maybe someday you can buy a clue!
play it safe when so much is at stake, shoot first ask questions later. that's the way it used to be , a warning, a warning shot, then it gets real. those people did not belong there.
There is better security at a high school.
Wasn't this facility protected by a privatized company? Maybe we should, as stated above, go back to having our military protect our weapons, etc.
Our military is too busy protecting big money and corporate power all over the world.
OK. now why don't they go to Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Isreal, and any other countries either with, or trying to get nuclear weapons? But it's apparent that the security people in charge have no idea as to how to secure important places. But, maybe we cut back spending too much, or inn the wrong places.
How correct you are Mark O Pierce, we have totally slashed the Defense budget while increasing welfare, but then again all those illegals crossing the border who aren't supposed to vote, but do, are needed by the DNC. They could never cut off the source of their vote buy outs.
Must be a dummy plant. It is hared to believe first, that we only have one uranium enrichment plant producing weapons grade uranium, and two that if it where actually doing uranium enrichment that anyone could get to it. The real location, I'm sure, is top secret.
You left off a word... dummy plant security.... Barney still had his bullet in his pocket. It is a "handling, processing, storage facility" Not enrichment facility
No secret!
http://www.urenco.com/content/323/URENCO-inaugurates-uranium-enrichment-facility-in-Eunice-New-Mexico.aspx
I live in KY and didn't even know this place existed. It needs to close down or move. Just like the gas storage facility in Richmond KY. Get this crap outta our Country.
And who are we to give the nuclear fissionable plutonium to? The iranians? Or Darfur?
Novel idea !! I sure want all our weapons grade Uranium out of our country.... How about let's store it in Iran !! ?
Wow Irish, it says its been there since WW2, would think it would be on a map...Hope you never give anyone lost directions.
Good Idea - heaven knows we would never find it in the middle east, couldn't find it in Iraq; after tearing the whole damned country apart.
Your really on top of it Irish. Let's just do that, so we can import more gas and become more dependent on foreign companies. I suppose you have no gas or electric in your home to keep warm or cool, dangerous stuff to use you know !
Irish: You live by Oak Ridge and don't know thats where people worked to produce the Atomic Bomb?
The government has plans to send some to Iran, they think a few air shipments will do the job.
we did find 300 WMD in Iraq. 300 Saddam swore he didn't have but oh well who cares about facts.
You must be claiming the aluminum canisters were used for the centrifuges? Aluminum will not hold - it takes titanium.
That like claiming a stick you broke off of a tree is evidence that of beating a person to death with it... some times a log is just a log, good for burning in a fire place, nothing else. I see a butter knife, and you see a stiletto or dagger?
yikes
Nuke the Geezers, There gonna die under Obama's healthcare policy anyway, So why make them suffer unnecessarily.
What makes me mad is this article should never have been written in the first place. The protesters should have been placed in confinement, and never heard from again. The news gives out to much info that helps people who hate us. We do not have to know everything, it called freedom of speech, by the media, I call it traitors giving out info that does not need to be given out. Some day they will pay through the teeth for this, just wait and see.
TAADAA! What do you want to bet, soon at a theatre near you, a 30 man platoon of men of middle eastern ancestry ( now the libs wont complain) attacks the place with imported AK-47's and rockets?
there is a thing called freedom, then otoh, we sit here and say hey Ahmed, MoHAMED, COME STEAL OUR NUCLEAR STASH, NOBODY IS LOOKIN. Our govt and the press are a bunch of morons.
Well they will have to move it now. They outa move it to washington. Been watching that place for decades and the only thing that has been lost there is our dignity. And that comment goes out by a private citizen using his freedom of speech, to ALL you demoncrats and republicants.
Careful Thomas, your losing votes, but you sure as heck have mine...... The truth is devastating !! Thanks for the post.
I agree.
George, I agree. However, we want to know every move our government makes. People seem to forget that we do not need to know all that goes on in keeping our country safe. Not all operatives go well. Until the last few years we never knew what our government might be doing in what part of the world. We still do not need to know. I prefer that our country is kept safer without everyone's knowledge.
Who hired G4S security firm? An International company to secure a highly sensitive facility belonging to the United States. Had they been Chinese the interlopers would have been taken care of long before they cut through fence. We could probably get them to do it a lot cheaper too. The story tells us the building stayed secure even without guards. Is this about government waste then? The charges against them should be domestic terrorism and sent to Guantanamo for interrogation indefinitely.
They were probably working for Romeny so he can get some bombs to help poor, little Israel when they nuke Iran.
Isreal already have their own. I think the current administration are a little afraid of this fact.
Israels has it own nukes. 180 of em and their policy is the same as ours they reserve second strike. So if Iran gets stupid they will end up nuclear glass.
If they nuke us we wont have to worry about a second strike!
Eventually, it will come to that and humanity will be destroyed except for a very few and the cycle will begin all over again, just like the scenario in Planet of the Apes.
Israel will not nuke Iran. The fallout will destroy their country as well, including a few others.
thier security should of shot and killed them, use of deadly force should of been used,, sounds like a terrorist attack tome,shoot to kill, they ahve no bussiness there, like area 51, stay out, if you want to live, so how bout it you losers ,, go try to occupy area 51,, please? i need a good laugh, tripple dog dare you morons to go try that at area 51,
Whether it's three people intent on activism or not this kind of act cannot be tolerated by anyone at such a facility.My opinion is lock em up for a long time and fire the security members that failed to stop these people for two hours.Was security sleeping on the job or what? What if this had been a attempt by serious aggressors to gain access and steal nuclear material for a dirty bomb.Hard to imagine this place isn't more secure than Fort Knox.After this incident and press exposure i bet this sort of thing won't occur again.
I may not agree with their methods. But I must admire these three individuals for putting their safety and even their lives on the line, for what is a truly noble cause - to make a statement that all of humanity should live in peace.
It was a nonviolent demonstration that did not hurt anyone, except possibly the paychecks or careers of some lax security fellows.
I think it was juvenile. If one of the guards panicked and kill one, that gaurd would become the poster child of why guards shouldn't be allowed weapons. That was a dangeous game.
If a guard killed one of them, I see that he would be doing his job. I do not think very many of my fellow citizens would begrudge that situation.
They are not allowed to shoot until granny trys to take the stuff off property. The guard would have been tried for either manslaughter or possibly 2cd degree murder. Its tresspassing. They are allowed to shoot when someone tries to shoot them, or to protect someone elses life, or when someone aquires the stuff and tries to leave with it. thats it. But not as bad as telling the entire arab world of terrorists, that its easy pickins.
I can hardly wait for it to come on "The World's Dumbest" !!
Shoot first and ask questions later. Get rid of our "fearless leader" before our enemies get rid of you!
I sincerely hope the security gaurds KICKED THE SH!T out of those idiots!
If they ask for my help, the protesters won't make it passed the second fence !!
What kind of security can you get for $8 hr and not counting there should be twice as many people as there was,its all about the money.
The security industry tends to work undermanned. i suspect that is a factor here. Or it could be like that nuclear plant up north that the entire backup force was in a room sleeping. Same company that one.
And sorry nuclear security usually starts at $15 and goes up from there. These guys were probably well paid. they were not guarding a pile of sand at a construction site. Although the reaction was about the same.
how does shutting it down help security who's watching it now , to think hrs went by before any 1 did something now whats going to happen when no 1's there (sarcasm):P
Translation. The security force there has been beefed up so when a gnat farts everyone will know. For now anyway. Might have used the military although thats a guess.
Yeah, it's like shutting the barn door after the horses got out....
The security team showed an incredible amount of restraint in their actions. Apparently they correctly assessed the threat and determined that the intuders were in fact just typical grubby old protesters. It is truly a no-win proposition for the security team. They either shoot a bunch of old hippie hobos and get unmercifully criticized and prosecuted for overreacting,..or they let the 'protest' run its' course and then get derided for the perimeter breach. Damned if you do,..damned if you don't.
Shame they didn't let loose the K9s
I agree, they should have known better. An escalation of force was needed. Nice water cannons at each roof top corner, or a little tingle of electricity would be nice.
Wrong! What they should have done was arrest them at first security breech, and detained them for authorities. If they were inside building perimeter they should have been neutralized with extreme prejudice. Jihadist dressed like nuns now, did she not think this through? How it will effect other nuns at TSA checkpoints.
The problem, the way I see it ;#1 the rent-a-cops probably have had no training in security or law enforcement.#2 The liberal press should learn what protest means, it is not cutting the fence of a nuclear facility or destroying anyones property. I say send the criminals to prison for a long time.
They need to make an example of the three....shoot them or lock them up for the rest of their lives with no visitors, they are terrorists. The group they were representing must be a terrorist organization and should be shut down. Before they are put to death, they should be thanked for showing that there was such a lack of security. You can bet the Chinese and Russians already knew of the lack of security. The agency handling security at this facility should never be given a government contract again.
There was no way they could do any real damage there. The uranium is probably behind yards of steel and concrete. Do you posters think they could just fill their pockets and leave? Crazy! These people were protesting nuclear insanity and we may end up wishing we all had done the same.
We had two buildings blown up and 3,000 killed and that was enough to send us off balance. Hell, we killed more people than that when we went into the tiny country of Panama to stop Noriega from talking about our CIA and the slaughter in Nicaragua. What would happen if we had two major cities destroyed.
Sane men should be talking about disarmament before it's too late. I for one respect and admire these three.
@frank morton
So, you say you respect and admire criminals, does that mean you think comitting any crime is ok? i.e murder,rape, etc.?
They went beyond protesting when they breached the fence, at that point they went from protesting to being nothing more than common criminals.