DOE EYES METH CHEMICALS

ORNL, Y-12 Show No Signs Of Stolen Drug Ingredients But Told To Boost Security

OAK RIDGE - Federal inspectors did not find any evidence that chemicals of
use in making methamphetamine had been stolen from Oak Ridge National
Laboratory or the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant, according to a report
released Wednesday.

However, the U.S. Department of Energy's inspector general did recommend
some additional steps to increase awareness of the potential problem and
help reduce the possibility of meth-making chemicals being diverted from
the federal plants here.

The DOE audit team did the review at the request of the Tennessee Ninth
Judicial Drug Task Force to help combat a growing problem with illegal
production of methamphetamine.

Auditors looked at methods used at ORNL and Y-12 to purchase, receive and
dispose of certain chemicals that can be used to produce the drug. While
there are many "precursor" chemicals used to produce meth, the federal team
focused on those that are difficult to get or "tedious to gather."

The list included potassium metal, anhydrous ammonia, pseudoephedrine,
iodine, ether, lithium metal and red phosphorous.

"We included red phosphorous because the method commonly used to acquire it
is to scrape it from the heads of matches, which is tedious and
time-consuming; hence, bulk holdings of this chemical can be an attractive
target for theft," the IG report said.

While the team auditors found that the Oak Ridge plant adhered to DOE
policies for protecting hazardous materials, they also found a lack of
awareness about the link between certain chemicals and possible drug-making.

During an inspection, the team found a container with 1.5 pounds of red
phosphorous that was awaiting disposal. It was in a laboratory that was
kept unlocked due to safety concerns, but the building was accessible to
more than 1,000 lab employees.

"We explained to an ORNL official that red phosphorous could be a target
for diversion and used in manufacturing methamphetamine," the report's
authors said. "When we returned to the laboratory over two months later, we
found that the red phosphorous remained unsecured."

In another case, a 40-liter container of anhydrous ammonia had been sitting
on a loading dock for at least 12 years, the report said.

The government contractors in Oak Ridge agreed to put in place tighter
controls on the chemicals.