House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is calling for the Government Accountability Office to investigate how a secret list of nuclear sites in the United States was accidently released on the internet.
“The disclosure of information related to nuclear facilities suggests that the current system does not provide adequate review and safeguards,” Pelosi said in announcing the GAO probe.
The information was posted May 22 on the Web site of the Government Printing Office and includes government and civilian nuclear facilities and the activities taking place at those sites. The 266-page report was marked “highly confidential.”
The National Nuclear Security Administration has determined that the release of the list, which has since been taken down by the GPO, did not pose a security risk as the information was already available in bits and pieces.
But Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a House panel Wednesday that information disclosed on the list about the uranium storage site in Oak Ridge, Tenn. was “of great concern” and that the government would perhaps step up security at site as a result of the disclosure.
