B&W Y-12 took over security at the Department of Energy's Y-12 facility Monday from WSI Oak Ridge, a move precipitated by an embarrassing security breach in July.
In a release, DOE said it terminated the WSI Oak Ridge contract at the recommendation of the National Nuclear Security Administration following the break in of anti-nuclear-weapons activists who defaced a building storing highly enriched uranium. Afterward, the DOE made WSI Oak Ridge – a subsidiary of G4S Government Solutions (formerly Wackenhut) – a subcontractor of B&W Y-12. The later company is owned by Babcock and Wilcox and Bechtel and operates the nuclear weapons complex for the DOE's NNSA.
According to DOE, B&W Y-12 offered all security officers and other union employees at the site in Tennessee ongoing employment with their current wages, benefits and collective bargaining agreements. The new security contractor is also evaluating and hiring non-union supervisory and support employees.