LOC16:34
13:34 GMT
PARIS, June 11 (KUNA) -- The French Defence Ministry is to evaluate
security at a key nuclear submarine base in the north of the country after
media revelations that the sensitive site was badly guarded and could be
easily targeted by terrorist attack, security sources said Tuesday.
Defence Ministry sources said that a report in the local media "Le
Telegramme de Brest" was being taken seriously and Defence Minister Jean-Yves
Le Drian had called for an immediate investigation into the critical media
report.
Brest, where the daily newspaper is located, is a major French naval base
and the nuclear submarine facility is located nearby on a small islet, where
France's four nuclear attack subs are based.
The four submarines constitute the bulk of France's nuclear deterrent as
the government several years ago dismantled its land-based, long-range system
previously located on the Albion Plateau in south-central France.
The four nuclear subs, commonly known as "Boomers", are each equipped with
16 inter-continental ballistic missiles, known as SLBMs (submarine launched
ballistic missiles) and these would constitute a massive threat if they fell
into the wrong hands.
The firepower of just one sub is equal to 960 times the nuclear explosion
in Hiroshima in 1945, the report indicated.
"Le Telgramme" said in its critical report that access controls to the base
were extremely weak and passes to the base could be easily falsified and did
not even use biometric identification systems commonly used at most airports
today.
There is no traceability on the badges on exiting the facility or logging
of previous visits and the magnetic strip is easy to duplicate, the report
said.
The newspaper added that civilian workers upgrading the base have been able
to get their trucks in with just a piece of paper and that contents of trucks
entering the area are not checked.
"A child of 12 could reproduce it (the paper)," the media claimed.
It was also pointed out that there was no scanner system or other detection
system in place for vehicles which could ostensibly be transporting large
quantities of explosives.
"Le Telgramme" also warned that this "fortress on paper" was too easily
accessible to internet enquiries and too much information about the site was
available to the public.
There are 40 civilian guards at the site, backed up by 115 Gendarmes and
230 Navy Marines, but the problems are not here, "Le Telegramme" said.
The problem is the ease of access and lack of controls at the entrance and
also the demoded system of identification for people entering. (end)
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