Drunken nuclear convoy drivers arrested in US
US nuclear weapons convoy drivers have been arrested for being drunk and getting involved in bar brawls during their overnight stops, a report revealed today.
The US Energy Department’s watchdog said it reviewed 16 alcohol-related incidents involving government agents, candidates and others from the government’s Office of Secure Transportation between 2007 and 2009.
There are nearly 600 federal agents who move nuclear weapons, weapon components and special nuclear material across the US.
The report said that two incidents in particular caused alarm because they happened during “secure transportation missions” while agents checked into local hotels during extended missions, and the vehicles were placed in “safe harbour.”
One of those occurred in 2007, when an agent was arrested for being drunk in public; the other happened last year, when police handcuffed and detained two agents after an incident at a local bar.
“Alcohol incidents such as these, as infrequent as they may be, indicate a potential vulnerability in OST’s critical national security mission,” the report warns.
The report recommends that officials consider actions such as a “zero tolerance” policy for alcohol incidents.
Current guidelines call for alcohol testing at least once a year and when reasonable suspicion of alcohol exists; a ban on consuming alcohol within 10 hours before work; and sending home agents who have been drinking.
