These are some of the highest-trained agents in the employment of the United States Government. They’re the agents of the Department of Energy’s Office of Secure Transportation (OST), and they are empowered to transport nuclear materials within the United States. Their security record is very good where it counts: there have been no fatal accidents or accidental releases of nuclear material. However, the OST’s general safety record indicates “a potential vulnerability in [a] critical national security mission,” usually involving alcohol-related incidents.
Troublingly, a few of the incidents occurred during so-called “secure extended missions,” in which OST agents have to check into hotels and secure their vehicles overnight while transporting nuclear materials or warheads within the United States. There were 16 total alcohol-related infractions noted between 2007 and 2009, including an incident in which two agents were detained by police after a barroom altercation.
I really, really don’t like the idea of drunks handling nuclear materials. After all, a drunk courier lost a multi-million-dollar painting, and that’s a lot larger than a briefcase nuke. Off-duty is one thing, but on duty? Investigators stated, “OST management took what appeared to be appropriate action in these cases,” but added, “in our judgment, alcohol incidents such as these, as infrequent as they may be, indicate a potential vulnerability in OST’s critical national security mission.”
Tags: Department of Energy, Office of Secure Transportation, OST, OST agents in public drunkneness, nuclear security team caught in drunken bar incident, nuclear security, national security, nuclear weapons transportation agents arrested, unusual incidents, barroom brawl, secure extended missions
