Former Oak Ridge Complex Employee Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Disclosure of Restricted Atomic Energy Data

The U.S. Department of Justice reports in its press release (quotation, not an independent finding): “WASHINGTON – Roy Lynn Oakley, 67, a resident of Harriman, Tenn., pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, to count one of an indictment charging him with unlawful disclosure of Restricted Data under the Atomic Energy Act, in violation of 42 U.S.C., Section 2274(b). The guilty plea was announced today by Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and James R. Dedrick, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Oakley had been scheduled to start trial today, but appeared instead before U.S. District Court Judge Thomas A. Varlan, to enter his plea of guilty. Oakley had formerly been employed as a laborer and escort by Bechtel Jacobs at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP) in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The ETTP, formerly known as K-25, had previously been operated by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as a facility to produce highly enriched uranium. According to the plea agreement, while employed at the ETTP in 2006 through 2007, Oakley had a security clearance that permitted him to have access to classified and protected materials, including instruments, appliances and information relating to the gaseous diffusion process for enriching uranium. Some of the materials and information to which Oakley had access were classified as "Restricted Data" under the Atomic Energy Act, any disclosure of which was illegal. While he worked at the ETTP, Oakley had been instructed and informed that this Restricted Data could not be disclosed. The plea agreement further states that based on the investigation the Federal Bureau of Investiga”