FAS

Inadvertent Disclosures of Classified Nuclear Info

01.31.06 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The Department of Energy has released a sanitized version of its nineteenth report to Congress on inadvertent releases of classified nuclear weapons information through the declassification process.

Out of more than 150,000 pages at the National Archives that were reviewed by DOE, 16 pages contained Restricted Data, and another 99 pages contained Formerly Restricted Data (which is also classified).

As in the past, the most common type of inadvertent release concerned the locations of historical nuclear weapons storage depots. However, some design-related information was also inadvertently released. All of this material has now been withdrawn from public access.

See “Nineteenth Report to Congress on Inadvertent Releases of Restricted Data and Formerly Restricted Data Under Executive Order 12958,” November 2005 (released in declassified form January 2006).