To demonstrate his point, McCallum had turned in 1996 to a sophisticated computer-modeling program designed to simulate terrorist attacks against each of the country’s nuclear labs. NEWSWEEK has learned that in every one of the scenarios that the computer devised, the hypothetical terrorists succeeded in penetrating security at the Rocky Flats weapons factory near Denver and blowing up some of the highly radioactive plutonium used to make bombs. In 80 percent of the simulations, the attackers were able to get through the razor wire and security checks and walk out with enough plutonium to build a nuclear bomb–or poison millions of people with the radioactive dust. Other facilities, including Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, also fared poorly on 1996 security evaluations. But instead of acting quickly to step up protective measures, McCallum’s superiors resisted making the changes he recommended and largely allowed his findings to languish.
No one is ignoring the warnings anymore. After widespread reports last month that Chinese spies may have stolen critical nuclear-weapons designs from Los Alamos and other labs, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson ordered intensive reviews of security procedures at the country’s nuclear facilities. The preliminary findings were grim. Chinese spies and the threat of terrorist attack were just the beginning of Richardson’s problems. NEWSWEEK has learned that the department is now grappling with yet another security problem: over the years, according to the Energy Department’s own figures, the country’s nuclear facilities have lost track of more than 5,000 pounds–two and a half tons–of plutonium. At Rocky Flats alone, officials acknowledge, some 2,400 pounds of plutonium is unaccounted for, though the plant’s overall security rating today is “satisfactory.”
The Energy Department emphatically insists that none of the material has been stolen, suggesting the “inventory differences” are the result of the material’s getting stuck in pipes and manufacturing tools. Even so, the Department’s latest declassified report rated security at three prominent installations–Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge–as “marginal,” providing only “questionable assurance” that the material was safeguarded closely enough. One former security agent who’s been especially critical of the labs’ security says protective measures at Rocky Flats were so lax in the past, “it [was] like having a window in a bank vault.”
Now Richardson is left to figure out how to clean up the mess. Aides say he is planning to reorganize and strengthen his department’s security operations. McCallum may not be around to help him. Last week, Richardson abruptly suspended the security chief after allegations arose that he improperly divulged sensitive information to a security agent at Rocky Flats, who then posted it on the Internet. McCallum declined to comment on the suspension, and the Energy Department says he is still receiving full pay and has not lost his security clearances. But the suspension touched off a bitter feud inside the agency. Some employees believe McCallum is the victim of a political vendetta by department officials and defense contractors who are themselves being asked why they did little to correct the security problems. Department officials deny that McCallum’s suspension was the product of retribution and say there is a serious question whether classified information was disclosed without authorization.
The seeds of McCallum’s current troubles began a few years ago, when he met Jeff Peters, the chief of security at the aging Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant. Peters worked for Wackenhut, the giant private security firm the government hired to guard the heavily polluted facility while it is slowly dismantled. Though closed, the plant still warehouses a huge inventory of radioactive materials. Like McCallum, Peters was concerned about lax security at Rocky Flats, and loudly complained to his supervisors that the plutonium stockpiles were vulnerable. The two men talked on the phone about their concerns, comparing notes and swapping horror stories.
Unknown to McCallum, Peters, who has since quit Rocky Flats, was secretly tape- recording those conversations. Earlier this month, lawyers representing Peters and another former security officer in whistleblower litigation posted transcripts of the phone talks on the Internet. On the tapes, McCallum cryptically refers to the computer study showing how easy it would be for terrorists to steal plutonium. Peters expresses no remorse about releasing the tapes, saying he had to warn the public about problems at the labs.
McCallum might disagree. The security chief was suspended soon after the transcripts appeared, and the FBI is investigating. Richardson has yet to decide McCallum’s fate, and a congressional committee has begun to look into his suspension. For now, though, the man who spent a decade trying to protect the nation’s nukes is left with no one to protect but himself.
