Strike at US nuke site raises security fears

UNITED STATES: A six-week strike by security forces at a nuclear weapons assembly facility in Texas has raised concerns that sites across the United States might be more vulnerable to terror attacks.

More than 500 security officers walked off their jobs on April 15 at the Pantex Plant outside of Amarillo, Texas amid a deadlock with a government contractor over retirement benefits.

About 200 replacement workers have been flown in from other nuclear sites across the country to protect the nation's only nuclear weapons assembly and disassembly facility.

Critics said these workers were not sufficiently trained to protect the site and warned the loss of those workers was taking a toll on other sites within the nuclear weapons complex.

These concerns were echoed by the Department of Energy's top security official in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The official, Glenn Podonsky, testified in late April that his inspectors found the site was well defended, but said he was "concerned" about the impact system-wide should the strike drag on.

Podonsky will be returning to Texas next week to conduct another independent assessment at the request of the agency that oversees Pantex.

Texas, Friday, AFP