U.S. Accidentally Releases List of Nuclear Sites

[groovedaddy]

The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an online newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document had been made public.

On Tuesday evening, after inquiries from The New York Times, the document was withdrawn from a Government Printing Office Web site.

Several nuclear experts argued that any dangers from the disclosure were minimal, given that the general outlines of the most sensitive information were already known publicly.

“These screw-ups happen,” said John M. Deutch, a former director of central intelligence and deputy secretary of defense who is now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “It’s going further than I would have gone but doesn’t look like a serious breach.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/us/03nuke.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

[pmorlan1]

1. Interesting

Maybe one of the people Cheney left behind deliberately released it? Although it was probably just a common garden variety screw up.

[BirminghamExaminer]

2. Garden variety screwup is probably right

That people do make the most obvious and ridiculous mistakes is something that the conspiracy theorists can't seem to wrap their minds around. Like the people who believe the government has covered up something......give me a break...they couldn't cover up an alien autopsy or the killing of a president. There would be so many people involved and not only would some of them be sure to talk about it, many of them would screw something up.

[BridgeTheGap]

3. That people do conspire is something mainstreamers can't seem to wrap their mind around...

"people who see conspiracies behind everything are just as narrow minded as people who see no conspiracy at all." unknown