Car Crashes at Nuclear Weapons Plant
July 30, 2007 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
Oak Ridge – Tennessee : A driver ran a checkpoint at a nuclear weapons plant early Monday and crashed into a barrier, then fled on foot, authorities said.
Guards at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, a primary storehouse for bomb-grade uranium, said the man “appeared to be impaired in some way” when they stopped him around 5 a.m. at a security checkpoint near a rear entrance, spokesman Bill Wilburn said.
They asked him for identification, but the man hit the gas and drove through the checkpoint, then crashed into security barriers a short distance away, Wilburn said.
“When he hit that, he jumped out of the car and ran away. He left the car there with the engine still running,” Wilburn said. He said the guards told him the car had been hot-wired.
Oak Ridge police were searching for the driver. Wilburn said he had no other details.
Steve Wyatt, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in Oak Ridge, which oversees the Y-12 plant, downplayed the crash, saying it was “next to nothing.” The plant makes and dismantles uranium parts in nuclear warheads.
“Next to nothing”?? This could be someone testing the security procedures at the plant. This should not be taken lightly! I would imagine that there are cameras in place, if not, then why isn’t there one? This can easily become a big deal if the media turns it into one! Either way, security was breached and there needs to be an investigation.