Allegations Concerning the Department of Energy’s Site Safeguards and Security Planning Process
September 28, 2000
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September 28, 2000
Allegations Concerning the Department of Energy’s Site Safeguards and Security Planning Process
The Director, Office of Security and Emergency Operations provided the Office of Inspector General with a letter he had received which raised allegations of serious improprieties in the Department of Energy’s Site Safeguards and Security Planning (SSSP) process. Specifically, the letter included allegations that a number of people within the Department were “lying in the reporting of the actual status of security” at the Department’s most important nuclear sites, and that a contractor’s findings under the SSSP Quality Assurance (QA) process were either ignored or not acted upon in a timely manner. In addition, it was alleged that “illegal” retaliation was taken against those who were trying to correct the Department’s security problems through SSSP reviews or through assistance to a special assistant to the Secretary on Department security issues. The Office of Inspector General initiated an inspection to evaluate these issues.