Nuclear research sites not prepared for terrorism, report says

The Energy Department took steps to increase security at nuclear research facilities after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but those sites are still not adequately prepared to defend themselves, according to a General Accounting Office report (GAO-04-623) released Tuesday.

Robin Nazzaro, GAO natural resources and environment director, said the department is unlikely to meet a self-imposed 2006 deadline for implementing new security measures. At a House Government Reform subcommittee hearing, Nazarro said budget concerns may have caused the department to adopt a lower level of threat preparedness.

National Nuclear Security Administrator Linton Brooks said budgetary issues were not a factor, and he disagreed with GAO's assertion that nuclear research facilities pose the same security threats as nuclear weapons sites.

Brooks said the Energy Department is working aggressively to increase security at the nuclear complexes, including consolidating weapons-grade nuclear materials into fewer, more secure sites.

Government Reform National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations Subcommittee Chairman Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said such consolidation has been "long considered, but little pursued at DOE," and the department has taken "an inexplicably and inexcusably long time" to update its security plans.