
Break-In at Y-12 – the vulnerability of America’s nuclear-weapons sites - prostoalex
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/03/09/break-in-at-y-12
======
PhantomGremlin
Lots of good points and good history in the article, but it's poorly organized
and rambles on and on. The author was probably paid by the word.

Bottom line is that security at this particular site was laughable. E.g.:

    
    
       The Plowshares activists did set off an alarm.
       But security officers ignored it, because
       hundreds of false alarms occurred at Y-12
       every month.
    

After cutting thru three fences and then spray painting the walls of a
building, the protesters waited around and sang religious songs for a half an
hour before they flagged down a passing rent-a-cop patrol car.

The protesters were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to years in jail.

------
justcommenting
The last few sentences are a great summary:

"The prison looked like an image on an old postcard, a haunting, uniquely
American symbol of state power. And a thought occurred to me: the walls of the
penitentiary guarding this pacifist were taller and more impenetrable than any
of the fences at Y-12."

------
MichaelCrawford
the article reports that 80,000 were killed in the Hiroshima bombing; that's a
common misconception, it was easily twice that if you include those who died
of cancer in the following decades - for the most part thyroid and leukemia.

~~~
erglkjahlkh
Easily twice? 1 minute of Googling found already this, suggesting the true
number would be mere fraction of that:

[http://www3.cancer.gov/intra/dce-
old/pdfs/ciabp.pdf](http://www3.cancer.gov/intra/dce-old/pdfs/ciabp.pdf)

If someone knows better sources, please do post!

