May 2000


Lab readies for June Safeguards and Security I&E audit

ORNL is gearing up for an important audit in early June. That’s when guests will arrive to begin the Safeguards and Security Inspection and Evaluation (I&E) audit, beginning June 5 for a two-week stay.

These audits are comprehensive, involving every aspect of Lab security, including physical security, computer security, foreign national visits and assignments, accountability and control of special nuclear materials and information security. Auditors will also look at security in special facilities such as the High Flux Isotope Reactor and Building 3019.

Historically, these audits have been tough. Whether auditors are coming to town or not, ORNL Security Manager Bill Rich stresses that security isn’t just the domain of the security organizations. It’s a shared responsibility.

“It’s crucial for everyone to be involved in the Lab’s security. It’s a line management responsibility, and security organizatons cannot cannot carry the day alone,” he says.

“It’s extremely important to ORNL and to the new UT-Battelle team to do well on this I&E. It’s the first real test under the new team’s watch. But it also has an important bearing on some of the initiatives that are planned for the Laboratory, such as developing more national security program work.”

In fact, Lab Director Bill Madia includes attention to security as one of the tenets of simultaneous excellence. As an example, he cites one national laboratory’s breakdown in computer security and the DOE-wide ramifications it caused.

“Everybody has a role,” Rich says.

ORNL’s internal Web-based news, ORNL Today, has been running a series of security pointers outlining what employees should know and do regarding proper security practices. You can learn more about ORNL security on the internal Web page, www-internal.ornl.gov/olp/security/sec.htm, or by reading ORNL Security’s newsletter, Security Insights. If you have questions or observations about the I&E, contact Rich at 241-0340, richwr@ornl.gov.—B.C


      



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