PonderousMan

To kick off a new "WHAT THE FUCK?" category, we have a rather, er, distressing article on security at US nuclear plants, from the Washington Post, no less...

Some choice tidbits:

A security guard working under contract for a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania was shocked by seeing his fellow guards sleep on the job, so he reported them to his firm, the poorly-named Wackenhut Corp... and they did nothing.
He took his report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who referred his complaint to Wackenhut, who in turn lied and said there was no problem, and the NRC just believed them.
So he took a video of his fellow guards sleeping on duty, and sent to to WCBS in New York, who broadcast it - and THAT got some attention.
This has led to a flurry of activity by the NRC, the contractor, the owners of the nuke plant, and Congress.
The plant owners fired Wackenhut and hired some other contracting company in its place.
It turns out that "Energy Department Inspector General Gregory Friedman has cited Wackenhut for a series of problems at the nation's most sensitive nuclear weapons sites." - including the US Government's Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge, which holds a lot of very nasty nuclear stuff.
In 2005, the IG cited Wackenhut for a number of problems at Y-12, including:

Repeatedly working staff more than the 60 hours/week max allowed
Lying about staff training, saying that planned training had taken place, and having employees sign off on training they never received;

Leaking advance notice of a security test (a "force on force" raid, even!) which meant staff were prepared ahead of time;

Despite these documented events, Wackenhut just given a 5-year contract renewal worth over $500 Million for "security" (sic) at Y-12;
A DOE Inspector General spokesperson (?!) says there is some discussion of "Federalizing" security at Oak Ridge (i.e. hiring real government workers, instead of contractors).
Aside from press, there's little evidence anything has actually changed.

What I want to know is, where the hell is the accountability in this?

At a minimum, what I'd like to know is:

Who was the supervisor at the contracting firm, and did he get fired? If not, why not?
Who took the complaint at the NRC, and did they get fired? If not, why not?
Who lied about staff training, and did they get fired? If not, why not?
Who asked staff to sign off on training they did not actually receive, and did they get fired? If not, why not?
Who leaked the information about the security test, and did they get fired? If not, why not?
What action (if any) was taken on the IGs report (some line of BS by Wackenhut does NOT count here)
Who renewed the contract for Wackenhut at Y-12, and what did they say about the IG's report?
What has the DOE done, in concrete, measurable steps, to address the issues raised in this case?
What other issues are there that are NOT discussed in this report?

And of course, that's just getting started... that's just what I think any educated person who cares about seeing some accountability would ask for.

Tags: accountability, doe, god help us all, idiots, nuclear plant, security, wackenhut, wtf
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