Workers at the Y-12 National Security Complex, an Oak Ridge nuclear weapons facility, were told to shelter in place, and some were sent home following unrelated reports of a loud noise and the discovery of “unacceptable” graffiti on the morning of Sept. 23.
There was “in no way a safety issue,” Y-12 spokesperson Taz Painter told Knox News by phone. A loud sound at the eastern end of the complex prompted managers to request that workers shelter in place while security investigated.
Separately, some graffiti found at a construction site for Y-12’s planned Uranium Processing Facility led managers to send construction workers at that site home for the day. The graffiti “was unacceptable and does not align with the company code of conduct,” Painter
said.
No one was evacuated from the complex, Painter said, and the site was operating as usual shortly before 10 a.m.
Y-12, which belongs to the U.S. Department of Energy, stores most of the U.S.’ bomb-grade uranium. The complex sits on more than 800 acres of land in Oak Ridge’s Bear Creek Valley, and it is one of the highest-security weapons facilities in the country.
Mariah Franklin reports on technology and energy for Knox News. Email: mariah.franklin@knoxnews.com. Signal: mariahfranklin.01
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Y-12 workers shelter in place or go home after 'loud sound' and graffiti worry
