Report: Nuke weapon drivers got drunk on job

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Report: Nuke weapon drivers got drunk on job
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated

WASHINGTON — Government agents hired to drive nuclear weapons in trucks sometimes got drunk on the job, the U.S. Energy Department's watchdog said in a document released Monday.

The Energy Department's assistant inspector general, Sandra D. Bruce, said her office reviewed 16 alcohol-related incidents involving agents, candidate-agents and others from the government's Office of Secure Transportation between 2007 through 2009.

The memorandum said the incidents "indicate a potential vulnerability" in what it described as a "critical national security mission."

The findings were detailed in a memorandum dated Nov. 17, which said that when agents had drunk alcohol overnight after checking into local hotels, their trucks were in "safe harbor" status.

There are nearly 600 federal agents who ship nuclear weapons, weapon components and special nuclear material across the U.S.