Companies defend security work at Energy facilities

The head of a private contractor that provides security for several Energy Department installations believes private companies will continue to provide security at U.S. nuclear facilities, despite Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's proposal to create a federal security force for some of the most sensitive sites, the Associated Press reported.

"I see tremendous opportunity in what the secretary's speech laid out," said James Long, president of Wackenhut Corp., which guards the Savannah site and Energy Department facilities in Nevada, Tennessee and Washington. "There are many things that are going to be good for the private security industry, and not many things that are not going to be good for the private security industry," he added.

New opportunities include the creation of one all-encompassing security contract for Energy Department facilities and reducing the number of sites that require high-level protection, according to Long.

Long added that he does not think a federal security operation makes sense for many of the routine tasks at some sites, including processing people and material through checkpoints.

"Private industry can much better respond to the motivational needs necessary to do the kind of work that needs to be done to protect these facilities," Long said. "It would be absurd to privatize the FBI or drug enforcement operations, but I also believe it makes no sense to do the things on the mundane end of that continuum with federal employees," he added.