About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

EMD-79-93 1 (1979-08-01)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaaznk0001 and id is 1 raw text is: SID)D.o4 UNITED STATES GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D.C. 20548 0LMI10009 ENERGY AND MINERALS DIVISION AUGUST 1, 1979 B-164105 The Honorable Harold Brown ilU 1 l1 11111 The Secretary of Defense 110009 The Honorable James R. Schlesinger The Secretary of Energy We recently examined the Department of Energy's and Department of Defense's procedures for protecting nuclear weapons while in transit as a part of our review which re- sulted in our May 7, 1979, report to the Congress entitled Federal Actions Are Needed to Improve Safety and Security of Nuclear Materials Transportation. The need to protect nuclear weapons is self-evident. Their political and mili- tary importance, their destructive power, and the conse- quences of an unauthorized or accidental detonation--whether a nuclear detonation or merely the detonation of the weap- on's high explosives--dictate that nuclear weapons not fall into unauthorized hands. Nuclear weapons are perhaps most vulnerable while in transit; therefore, the security measures taken to protect weapons outside of their storage locations must be suffi- cient to dissuade persons planning sabotage or theft, and to withstand an attack. The Department of Energy ships nuclear weapons from its weapons assembly plant to various Department of Defense facilities. The Department of De- fense transports nuclear weapons among its facilities, back to the Department of Energy's assembly plant, and also fre- quently picks up and ships nuclear weapons from the Depart- ment of Energy's weapons assembly plant. Each Department's transportation security procedures are based on different transportation mode preferences. The Department of Energy prefers overland shipments in special trailers while the Department of Defense prefers shipping by military aircraft. As a result, nuclear weapons shipments between some ship- ping and receiving locations are sometimes made by special trailers and at other times made by military aircraft. The procedures of the two departments for protecting nuclear weapons in transit appear adequate; however, to our knowledge neither Department has ever compared and balanced /EMD-79-92 EMD-79-93 (990515)

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most