Details on an accidental release of highly-enriched uranium at a nuclear fuel processing plant in Tennessee were kept secret from the public and Congress by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for thirteen months.

On March 6, 2006, Nuclear Fuel Services (NFS) in Erwin, TN, spilled approximately nine gallons of highly-enriched uranium. The yellow solution was noticed escaping under a doorway and into a hallway within the plant. Initially, the highly-enriched uranium accidentally spilled into a glove box, which had a well-functioning drain, and came within four feet of falling down an elevator shaft. If the solution had pooled and achieved a depth of a few inches, a self-sustaining chain reaction would have resulted, endangering the lives of those in the vicinity.

After NRC became aware of the NFS event, the agency changed the terms of its license and concealed all information regarding the event from Congress and the public. The agency marked information regarding the incident as Official Use Only (OUO), a sensitive but unclassified (SBU) category intended to keep truly sensitive information secret. Federal agencies have dramatically increased use of SBU categories since 9/11, but the rise of SBU has been accompanied by the unnecessary restriction of important health and safety information.

The OUO policy was developed in August 2004 in response to a request from the Department of Energy's Office of Naval Research to restrict public access to sensitive security information. In addition to the highly-enriched uranium spill, the OUO policy motivated the removal of 1,740 previously public documents regarding the NFS plant. In a July 3 letter to the chairman of the NRC, Reps. John Dingell (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Bart Stupak (D-MI), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation, wrote, "NRC went far beyond this narrow objective [from the Department of Energy] when it acceded to the Naval Reactor's request to withhold all information that is neither classified nor safeguards related. As a result, NRC has removed hundreds of otherwise innocuous documents relating to the NFS plant from public view" (emphasis original).

Modification of NFS's Special Nuclear Material License is supposed to require public notice and allowance for public comment. "Due to the August 2004 OUO policy, the NRC inspection reports, changes to license conditions, and the Confirmatory Order are all marked 'OUO' and withheld from the public," said Dingell and Stupak. Hence, public participation was preempted by the failure to provide notice. The OUO policy itself is marked OUO and withheld from public view.

The New York Times recently reported that the issue came to light in part due to the efforts of one of the five commissioners of the NRC, Gregory B. Jackzo. Jackzo said, "Ultimately, we regulate on behalf of the public, and it's important for them to have a role."

With the unnecessary restriction of safety information under SBU categories, it is impossible for the public to play such a role. The Times reported that NRC's OUO policy is under review. Dingell and Stupak reported that NRC has agreed to reissue the Confirmatory Order and allow public participation.