NOTE TO MR. THOMAS K. LATIMER FROM (SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81M00980R002000030002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Sequence Number: 2
• Content Type: FORM

Approved For Release 2006/08/01 : CIA-RDP81 M00980R0020000
TO:
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Office of Legislative Counsel
Washington, D. C. 20505
Telephone: [phone] (Code 143-6121)
31 March 1978
Mr. Thomas K. Latimer, Staff Director
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
House of Representatives
appropriate.
In response to Mr. Burlison's request
on the Freedom of Information Act, I
think he and the Committee might be very
interested in the possibility of similar
initiatives on the Senate side concerning
nuclear secrets. I would be very interested
in knowing about the possibilities of
remedial legislation. At a minimum, I
would appreciate your calling this to
Mr. Burlison's attention,,,'O that is'
6068 1533 PREVIOUS
EDITIONS.
(40)
2
1 ORI/CDF,
Approved For Release 2006/08/01 : CIA-RDP81-M00980R002000030002-5
 X9
ARTICLE ADPI;ARED 24 iN'
Re ovAe4For Release 2006/08/01 fP,- DP81 OO98OROO2OOOO3OOO2-5
Senator.. to . Try to Close 'Gaps'
By John J. Flalka
Washington SLarSta-IWrtre
The Senate Governmental Affairs Committee
will prepare new legislation to close several "large
aos" in the nation's system for safeguarding
ornb-grade nuclear materials, according to Sen.
John Glenn, head of the panel's subcommittee on
nuclear proliferation.
Glenn expressed shock yesterday after learning.
that some employees of private contractors, em
pioyees who work with. highI"y enriched uranium
and plutonium, are not requied to have security
clearances.
- "That's incredible," Glenn said, calling it a "big
Victor Gilinsky, a commissioner of-the Nuclear?,
Regulator/ Commission, explained the situation to i
rorists may_pose?to-certain nuclear. facilities- Gi-.
in- facilities licensed by the NRC have security
Department c;{isitracts and.tise.1Defense Depart--:
anent requires 1.lcar?a.nces~, ~,, ..
THOS#'~z1i1.3a on civiliari:*nucl'ear research
clear materials he added, are not required to have
their backgrounds checked unless their employer
changed to prevent the NRC and-the departments of Energy and Defense from sending out detailed-
plans of nuclear weapons storage facilities and
otherhighly secured areas.
Glenn displayed a series of blueprints, including
detailed sketches of the wiring ot?tne alarm sys-
tem, of the Department -of Energy's Hanford
Reservation in Washington. They were obtained by
Joseph Albright, a reporter for the Cox newspaper
chain, who was 'given them and even- received
tours of several highly secured facilities while pos-
ing as a private contractor:
"It is absolute nonsense to be sending this kind
of information out," Glenn told a padel of nuclear
energy officials, -including Giiinsky Thomas??O'--
Brien, director for security plans for the Pentagon,
and Donald Kerr,: acting assistant secretary- flo
added Glenn, who said that a new law might be
necessary to bar such information from Freedom(
Asked by.Glenn..about the NUMEC case,'Kerr-
said, "We cannot prove?to you that there was no"
-diversion, nor can we prove to you that there was a
diversion." 1
KERR ADDED THAT the Energy Department
is concerned about reports that the missing
uranium may have been diverted to Israel and has
launched two new investigations of the case.
One investigation is to recheck available records
and processes at the plant, which was involved in
making highly enriched uranium fuel for a nuclear.
rocket at the time investigators discovered that'.
205 pounds of. the material could not be accounted I
?for_ :,? _ . _ _ ,
i
The second investigation is being carried out by
the Office of Inspector General, which is focusing
on how Energy Department officials and its two ,
predecessors, the Atomic Energy Commission and
the Energy Research and Development Adminis-1
tration, have dealt with the problem in the past. ..i
According to Energy Department records, the
president c? NU,'YIEC at the time, Dr: Zalrnan M.
Shapiro, a former AEC chemist, had access to too
secret U.S. nuclear weapons technology at the
saute time that lie had a number of business ar
rangemeents with the Israel's Atomic Energy Cora-
mission, including a program for recruiting and
training Israeli scientists and a contract for "the
general development of plutonium oxide as fuel
elements in nuclear reactors."
While Glenn expressed alarm over some reveli3-
tions during the hearing, he discovered that one l'
"serious" incident reported Sunday by the Wash-,
ington Post amounted to a "fiasco." ' .:,
err told Glenn that an offer made last summer;
,by European commodity traders to sell Westin;;
house 239 pounds of highly enriched uranium
turned out to involve depleted iiranium, a harm-
less, lead-like substance from which most of the
fissionable uranium isotopes had been removed. -i .
Reports of-the matter sent to the NRC did noti
mention that the material, offered by an. unnamed
'
Swiss businessman as "highly enriched uranium,
was tested by a Geneva chemist and turned out to
contain only .4 percent of U-235, the bomb-grade
material, less than that found in natural uranium.
Asked about the matter. Herb Waters, a Wash-
ington commodities dealer, acknowledged that he
had received a detailed assay report from Geneva
and after translating it from the German, rejected;
the offer, explaining that Westinghouse had ro
need for depleted uranium. j
Glenn said his committee had run-,into-56v "L!/ I rii . ZiA X to you that ttiis has oeen a riasco
"stone walls' trying to investigate another safe-' from the beginning,' said Harvy E. Lyon, head of
gard problem, the unexplained loss of'a. large Energy Department's division of safeguards and
ar.:o?int of highly enriched uranium from'a private security, who explained that a later outlining the
lant, the Nuclear Materials and Equip matter has been sent to the NRC. He added that:
nucl-ear
p
-mont Corp. (NUYEC) of Apollo, Pa., during the the FBI is still investigating the rasa because of
early 1530 s. Ole ro?ibility of raUd in tl:c of,-.
According to a spokesman for the Senate-Select Lyon said the Energy Department's files contain
Committee on Intelligence, the committee has several other cases where an offer to sell bomb';
turned down a request by Glenn's staff to gain ac- grade materials have been made from parties
cess to CIA tiles on the NU?ytECease. overseas. So far, he added, none of the oilers have
been found to be credible.
under, ~ro" ar~ i ~ Q~ . t IA-R1 fr3 1M0Qi QROO A? O~R?2--ion,. can be
gap in our security that we'll have to f ill in."