The Department of Energy recently approved a comprehensive manual on procedures for protecting all manner of classified or controlled information in the Department’s possession.
From RD (Restricted Data) and FRD (Formerly Restricted Data) to SAPs (Special Access Programs) and SPECATs (Special Category programs), it’s all in there. (Or almost all. A complete roster of all of the “sigma” categories of nuclear information is not included.)
The manual has not been readily available online, but a copy was obtained was obtained by Secrecy News and posted on the Federation of American Scientists web site.
See “Information Security,” DOE Manual 470.4-4, approved August 26, 2005 (2 MB PDF file).
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.