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Wackenhut Services Inc., the government's security contractor in Oak Ridge, has confirmed that a security supervisor was fired for allegedly threatening another employee. "One supervisor was terminated for verbally threatening another employee, while on duty, which is a violation of the WSI-OR Workplace Violence Policy," spokeswoman Courtney Henry said in response to questions about the incident. Wackenhut also confirmed other disciplinary actions that have been taken against supervisory personnel and strongly denied that the contractor management had shown more leniency toward supervisors than hourly personnel. Several security police officers in recent weeks have suggested that Wackenhut (also known as WSI-Oak Ridge) uses a double standard in doling out punishments.

Wackenhut Services Inc., the government's security contractor in Oak Ridge, has confirmed that a security supervisor was fired for allegedly threatening another employee. "One supervisor was terminated for verbally threatening another employee, while on duty, which is a violation of the WSI-OR Workplace Violence Policy," spokeswoman Courtney Henry said in response to questions about the incident. Wackenhut also confirmed other disciplinary actions that have been taken against supervisory personnel and strongly denied that the contractor management had shown more leniency toward supervisors than hourly personnel. Several security police officers in recent weeks have suggested that Wackenhut (also known as WSI-Oak Ridge) uses a double standard in doling out punishments.

Four security guards at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant were fired after testing positive for steroids, a spokeswoman for Wackenhut Services Inc., the government's security contractor, confirmed today. The guards union, however, is challenging two of the cases, claiming the positive readings were linked to use of over-the-counter supplements. Security police officers at Y-12 are subject to regular and random drug testing, but those tests are typically for Schedule I and II drugs - such as cocaine and marijuana. Courtney Henry of Wackenhut said the company began testing some guards for anabolic sterioids, a Schedule III drug, "for probable cause."

When a whistle-blower told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2007 that guards at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station were sleeping on the job, the agency told the plant's owner to investigate even though the accusation involved company managers. Having the plant's owner, Exelon, and its security provider, Wackenhut Corp., investigate themselves was a mistake, according to a report by the NRC's Office of Inspector General. By asking the companies to handle it themselves, the agency's Region 1 office in King of Prussia violated its own rules, the report states.

A team led by Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology has won a $3 billion contract to provide support services at the Hanford nuclear reservation for up to a decade, the Department of Energy announced Wednesday. The winning team, a limited liability company called Mission Support Alliance, also includes Jacobs Engineering Group and Wackenhut Services.

BRIDGMAN, Mich. (AP) - Investigations of security practices at American Electric Power Co.'s Cook Nuclear Plant in southwest Michigan have led to the suspensions of six people who work at the facility. The Herald-Palladium in St. Joseph reports Saturday that investigations by AEP and security provider Wackenhut Nuclear Services found two "brief and isolated instances" of officer inattention and inappropriate use of security cameras.

Three guards have been suspended for bringing video game devices, including one with transmitting capability, into the heart of a high-security nuclear weapons plant in Tennessee. Wackenhut Services spokeswoman Courtney Henry tells The Knoxville News Sentinel that the three security police officers were suspended without pay for an incident three weeks ago at the Department of Energy's Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge. She said the guards brought electronic game devices into the plant's "protected area" where warhead parts are made, dismantled and recycled. Not even cell phones are permitted there, yet one of the players was a portable Sony PlayStation with transmission capability.

The Department of Energy has again awarded the Hanford Mission Support Contract worth about $3 billion to a team led by Lockheed Martin. "Good things can come to those who wait," Frank Figueroa, president and general manager of the winning team, said Tuesday. The transition from Fluor Hanford to the new team will begin sometime in May and will be completed within 90 days, said DOE. Lockheed Martin formed a limited liability company called Mission Support Alliance that included Lockheed Martin Integrated Technology, Jacobs Engineering Group and Wackenhut Services to bid on the contract. The contract award is for five years with a possible extension to 10 years. The Mission Support Contract covers sitewide services at the Hanford nuclear reservation such as security, fire protection, information technology, utilities, road services, pension administration and portfolio management, which includes integrating activities such as schedules and program performance across Hanford.

More than two years after a federal investigation found that guards were sleeping on the job at Florida Power & Light's Turkey Point nuclear plant, the utility has paid a six-figure fine to resolve the case. FPL sent the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a check for $130,000 in January, the commission confirmed Monday. FPL spokesman Tom Veenstra confirmed late Monday that the company had paid the fine. Six guards at the Miami-Dade County plant slept or served as lookouts for other guards who were sleeping ''on multiple occasions'' between 2004 and 2006, the commission concluded. All of the guards were contractors with Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut. None remained on the job after the violations were announced last year, officials said.

Gerald Boyd, the Dept. of Energy's Oak Ridge manager, spoke at a safety meeting a couple of months ago, and he made a comment that Oak Ridge likely has a bigger base of contractors and subcontractors than other other DOE site in the country. I don't know whether that's the case, and Boyd acknowledged that he didn't know it for sure. But it makes sense, given the diversity of operations in Oak Ridge and the scale of the work taking place.