The Project on Government Oversight

POGO Joins letter to Secretary of Defense Gates Promoting Increased Transparency in Nuclear Weapons Policy
May 4, 2010

Will U.S. Inaction on its own Nuclear Security Issues Compromise Summit Success?
April 7, 2010

POGO Letter to President Obama Regarding Systemic Safety Issues at Los Alamos National Lab
February 11, 2010

GAO Affirms POGO Recommendation On Federal Nuclear Guard Force: Effectiveness Of Protective Forces Would Be Improved
January 29, 2010

POGO asks President Obama to instruct the DOE’s NNSA to reverse its decision to withdraw contractor performance data from public view
December 14, 2009

POGO letter to DOE Secretary Steven Chu regarding an award given to an overbudget and overschedule National Ignition Facility (NIF) project
May 6, 2009

In its first letter to DOE Secretary Steven Chu, POGO asked the Secretary to rescind a “Project Management Excellence” award that Secretary Chu recently gave to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) for the National Ignition Facility (NIF) project because the NIF project is more than 600 percent over budget and at least 8 years behind schedule. POGO also informed the Secretary that a decade ago, then-newly confirmed Secretary Bill Richardson similarly applauded the NIF project only to learn later that he had been misled: the NIF construction was far over budget and at least one year behind schedule. 

Transforming the U.S. Strategic Posture and Nuclear Weapons Complex
April 7, 2009

Today's Department Of Energy Confirmation Hearing Provided No Clues On Where Vast Majority Of DOE Is Headed
January 13, 2009

In the Midst of Nuclear Weapons Site Security Test Failures, DOE Adopts New Test and Security Requirements
August 8, 2008

The Emerging Era in Whistleblower Rights and the Public's Right to Know -Panel 2: The Special Case of National Security
June 26, 2008

Conference sponsored by Washington College of Law at American University.

Moderator: Conrad Martin, Executive Director, Fund for Constitutional Government Panelists: Ann Beeson, Director of U.S. Policy, Open Society Institute; Danielle Brian, Executive Director, Project on Government Oversight; Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Library of Congress; Mike German, Policy Counsel for National Security, American Civil Liberties Union; Stephen Kohn, Executive Director, National Whistleblower Center. Podcast Duration 01:32:08.

Follow the link to listen to the podcast.

POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman, regarding the plutonium pit production program
January 18, 2008

POGO letter to DOE Under Secretary Thomas D’Agostino requesting a stop work order for the CMRR at Los Alamos due to construction concerns
November 30, 2007

GAO Report Confirms POGO Report Citing DOE Failures on Nuclear Materials Storage
October 29, 2007

Project On Government Oversight Calls Resignation of NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks a Good Move
January 4, 2007

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Y-12 and Oak Ridge National Laboratory at High Risk
October 16, 2006

Two Department of Energy nuclear weapons facilities in Eastern Tennessee are at high risk, and can not meet the government's security standards.  If a terrorist attacks the Y-12 National Security Complex or the Oak Ridge National Labs, and detonates an improvised nuclear device with the more than 400 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium or the 1000 cans of U-233 stored at the sites, more than 60,000 people living in the area would die.

POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Bodman raising safety concerns
August 15, 2006

Controversial Nuclear Security Report Released
September 2, 2005

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Homeland Security Opportunities
May 19, 2005

As internal tests and analyses have shown, the Department of Energy cannot adequately protect America's voluminous stockpile of weapons grade nuclear material, which is housed at 13 locations throughout the country. In the post-9/11 era, we know that suicidal terrorists are capable of massive attacks – the worst possible scenario would be terrorists penetrating a nuclear facility and building an improvised nuclear bomb, which could have a similar force of the Hiroshima blast. In this report, POGO makes recommendations that will reduce the number of sites containing these nuclear materials from 13 down to seven. 

POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Abraham concerning Los Alamos contract
November 30, 2004

Testimony of POGO's Danielle Brian before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security and Emerging Threats on Nuclear Security: Can DOE Meet Facility Security Requirements?
June 22, 2004

Statement of POGO on DOE's Nuclear Security Announcement
May 7, 2004

POGO Testimony: Nukes Need Consolidation
April 26, 2004

Testimony of Peter D.H. Stockton POGO's Senior Investigator before the House Democratic Task Force on Homeland Security on Inadequate Security at Nuclear Power Plants and Nuclear Weapons Facilities
June 24, 2003

New GAO Report on Nuclear Weapons Complex Security
June 23, 2003

Testimony of Danielle Brian, POGO Executive Director : Preventing Nuclear Terrorism before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs, and International Relations, Committee on Government Reform
September 24, 2002

POGO Letter to Gen. John Gordon Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration concerning security at nuclear weapons facilities
January 24, 2002

POGO Compilation: Over 50 Reports, Hearings, Testimonies and Commissions in the Past Five Years Concluding that DOE has Serious Security Problems
January 22, 2002

POGO letter urging Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham to restore citizen access to the Department of Energy's web sites
January 11, 2002

POGO letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
December 13, 2001

POGO letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urging the secretary to demand President Bush veto the National Defense Authorization Bill for 2002 unless nuclear weapons facilities are included in the BRAC process.

Sign-on letter expressing opposition to reauthorization of the Price-Anderson Act which protects nuclear power and nuclear weapons facilitiy operators from financial liability
December 5, 2001

Nuclear Weapons Complex Vulnerable To Terrorist Attack
October 15, 2001

U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Security At Risk
October 1, 2001

Our investigation revealed that the Department of Energy (DOE) is failing to adequately protect the American public from the possibility of a terrorist attack on one of its nuclear weapons facilities. Guards at the facilities are poorly equipped, spread thin, and lack training needed to defend against a real terrorist attack. The DOE stores tons of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium that could be stolen or used to create and detonate an improvised nuclear device. 

DOE response to POGO's letter about NIF’s project excellence award.
Philip A. Niedzielski-Eicher, Assistant Deputy Administrator for Strategic Planning Resources & Integration, Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration
May 29, 2009 

Secretary Samuel Bodman's response to POGO's September 5, 2007 letter
Secretary Samuel Bodman, Department of Energy
September 21, 2007 

Response to POGO letter from DOE regarding inadequate safety oversight
Glenn S. Podonsky, Department of Energy
September 1, 2006 

The National Nuclear Security Administration's Implementation of the 2003 Design Basis Threat
Office of Inspector General; Office of Audit Services, Report DOE/IG-0705, Department of Energy
October 1, 2005 

Protective Force Performance Test Improprieties
Inspector General, Department of Energy
January 23, 2004 

NNSA Needs to Better Manage Its Safeguards and Security Program
, Government Accountability Office (GAO) Report - GAO-03-471
May 30, 2003 

Letter from DOE Secretary Abraham to Office of Management and Budget
Spencer Abraham, Department of Energy Secretary
March 14, 2002 

Risk to Special Nuclear Materials in the Department of Energy's Sites and Transportation
Letter from Ronald Timm, Certified Protection Professional to Secretary Spencer Abraham, U.S. Department of Energy,
February 9, 2001 

Nuclear Follies, By John Feffer, Co-director of Foreign Policy In Focus, The Huffington Post, April 21, 2010 

U.S. must get its nuclear house in order before April Security Summit, By POGO's Peter Stockton and Ingrid Drake, The Hill, March 23, 2010 

Federal Diary: Federalizing security contractors might make our country safer, By Joe Davidson, Washington Post, January 29, 2010 

Program to refurbish aging nuclear warheads faces setbacks, By Ralph Vartabedian , The Los Angeles Times, May 29, 2009 

Want to Downsize the Nuke Stockpile? Here's One Idea, By Nathan Hodge, WIRED/Danger Room/Online, April 8, 2009 

Bomb Plants Could Shift to Control of Pentagon, By Matthew L. Wald, The New York Times, February 6, 2009 

Energy Department Cites Gains as Obama Vows Changes, , Bloomberg News, January 5, 2009 

POGO questions new security policy at DOE nuke sites, By Frank Munger, Knoville News Sentinel, August 25, 2008 

Deciphering NNSA's Complex Transformation, By Ingrid Drake and Peter Stockton, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 23, 2008 

Latest shipment of weapons grade plutonium arrives safely at SRS, by Josh Voorhees, AikenStandard.com, January 8, 2008 

The True Story: Two U.S. Nuclear Labs "Hacked", By Jason Mick, Daily Tech, December 8, 2007 

LANL Building Project Faulted ; Oversight Group: Lab Rushed Work, By Raam Wong, Albuquerque Journal, December 5, 2007 

Nuclear facilities miss security deadline, , UPI News, October 29, 2007 

Nuclear security chief fired in wake of breach, By Andy Lenderman, The New Mexican, January 5, 2007 

Head of U.S. nuclear agency leaving under pressure over security lapses, , International Herald Tribune, January 5, 2007 

U.S. nuclear labs working on weapons safeguards, by Ralph Vartabedian, The Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2006 

Nuclear Spending Comes Under Fire, By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2006 

U.S. Rolls Out Nuclear Plan, By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, April 6, 2006 

Suicide A-Bombers Must Be Frustrated, Editorial, Albuquerque Journal, May 23, 2005 

Energy Department May Set Plans For New Nuclear - Material Security, By John Fialka, Wall Street Journal, May 10, 2004 

A Ringing Nuclear Alarm, Editorial, Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2004 

GAO Questions U.S. Nuclear Security, By Thom J. Rose , Spacedaily.com, April 27, 2004 

New DOE IG report confirms POGO's findings about security officers being under-trained and overworked, Editorial, Ft. Worth Star-Telegram, March 20, 2004 

Protecting the Nation's Nuclear Materials, by David Kestenbaum, National Public Radio (NPR), February 26, 2004 

Savannah River Site DOE Mock Attacks Test Security, By Josh Gelinas, The Augusta Chronicle, November 2, 2003 

Security Gaps at U.S. Nuke Sites, By Eric Herman, New York Daily News, October 7, 2003 

Debate Over Nuclear Lab Security Heats Up, Eric Pianin and Bill Miller, The Washington Post, April 22, 2002 

Nuclear Insecurity; Why is the president's budget downsizing security at our nuclear weapons labs?, By Eric Umansky, Slate.com, February 15, 2002 

Suicidal Nuclear Threat Is Seen at Weapons Plants , By Matthew L. Wald, New York Times, January 23, 2002 

Easy Targets, , New York Times advertisement, January 16, 2002 

I'll Cut the Fence, You Grab the Plutonium , By Geoffrey Gray, The Village Voice, December 18, 2001 

Do our nuclear labs lack security? Many sites fail mock invasion tests, by Lisa Friedman, The Oakland Tribune, October 4, 2001