Car Crashes at Nuclear Weapons Plant

[Star Man]

By The Associated Press
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. (AP) -- A driver ran a checkpoint at a nuclear weapons plant early Monday and crashed into a barrier, then fled on foot, authorities said. Police were searching for the driver, but there was nothing to suggest terrorism played any role.

Guards at the Y-12 plant, a primary storehouse for bomb-grade uranium, said the man "appeared to be impaired in some way" when they stopped him around 5 a.m. at a security checkpoint near a rear entrance, spokesman Bill Wilburn said.

They asked the man for identification, but he hit the gas and drove through the checkpoint. The vehicle crashed 300 yards away into a gate-like security barrier that was activated by guards.

"When he hit that, he jumped out of the car and ran away. He left the car there with the engine still running," Wilburn said.

Wilburn said the guards told him the car had been hot-wired and there were no weapons inside. "They checked the car very thoroughly before they moved it. They found nothing," he said.

Oak Ridge police were treating the incident "strictly as a private-property, hit-and-run accident" or simple trespassing, and they weren't going beyond their normal patrols to find the suspect, Chief David Beams said.

Steve Wyatt, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in Oak Ridge, which oversees the Y-12 plant, said the crash was "well away from any sensitive areas of the plant." Y-12 makes and dismantles uranium parts in nuclear warheads.

"The important thing is our (security) system worked as designed and the security police officers did exactly what you do in these situations," he said.

A man matching the description of the fleeing driver was spotted about three hours after the crash. He was seen walking in west Oak Ridge, several miles from Y-12, but responding officers couldn't find him, Beams said.

[BEK]

why didnt they shoot him ded and they shouldnt treat it like a property crime or a hit and run that would be foolish

[k-9max]

why didnt they shoot him ded and they shouldnt treat it like a property crime or a hit and run that would be foolish

+1

[TXCharlie]

Back when I installed equipment on a few aircraft carriers, I was told that the base had a policy to warn, and if someone did not heed that warning, to shoot to kill in sensitive areas where nuclear weapons were present. I think I even remember them pointing out red lines that if we crossed them, we were dead, warning or no warning.

I would think the same sort of policy should apply to running a checkpoint, I don't care if the driver appeared impaired or not - That could just be a ruse. If it had been a dump truck loaded with explosives, that gate may or may have not have held, and the guards may or may have not activated it in time.

At the very least, this may point out a weakness to some suicide terrorists who want to just try to demonstrate that it is not impossible to get in.

While it is an extremely small chance that a terrorist could ever set off a nuclear bomb, he could certainly cause a lot of damage and loss of life, especially if he escapes and they cannot find him. You have to find him to know 100% for sure that he didn't somehow get in.

[lewisipso]

but there was nothing to suggest terrorism played any role.

How about a dry run?

[Star Man]

why didnt they shoot him ded and they shouldnt treat it like a property crime or a hit and run that would be foolish

I'm guessing the Feds are involved, but the local PD is down playing it so they don't create a huge scene.

[rob84]

I agree, he should have been shot dead.