NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal investigation into how security guards at a Tennessee nuclear weapons plant got advance copies of test questions faults the Department of Energy's oversight of private contractors.
DOE inspector general Gregory H. Friedman said in a report Wednesday the questions were widely distributed in August before an upcoming test of guards at the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge.
The plant came under scrutiny after three protesters defaced a building there that houses the nation's bomb-grade uranium.
The report says DOE's "eyes on, hands off" approach to contractor management required sending the test to security firm WSI-OR for review and input. It said similar compromises may have occurred at other sites.
The report recommended more oversight, which the DOE said is too costly.
