WASHINGTON — The government’s inadvertent and red-faced Internet posting of a 266-page list of U.S. nuclear sites provided a one-step guide for anyone wanting details about such sensitive information.
Obama administration officials said Wednesday the document contained no classified material about nuclear weapons. They contended the locations and other details already were available from public sources.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said an error led to the online posting. "A little embarrassing.”
The document, stamped "highly confidential safeguards sensitive,” made it onto the Government Printing Office’s Web site. The printing office removed the document when informed "about the potential sensitive nature” of the list, the agency said.
The information, compiled for international nuclear inspectors, is a list of hundreds of civilian nuclear sites, along with maps and details of the facilities.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the release exposed lax safeguards. She asked congressional investigators to review the incident.
Chu said he was stepping up security at one of the sites, a storage facility for highly enriched uranium at the Y-12 Oak Ridge complex in Tennessee. "That’s of great concern,” he told a House Appropriations subcommittee when asked about the disclosure.
by the associated press
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