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UK Royal Navy "Trident" nuclear weapons submariner William McNeilly, aged 25, who has been in communications with WikiLeaks since the beginning of May, has decided he wants to go public about the detailed nuclear safety problems he says he has been "gathering for over a year". An excerpt from William McNeilly's exclusive original report to WikiLeaks follows:
My name is William McNeilly. I am an Engineering Technician Weapons Engineer Submariner for UK's Trident II D5 Strategic Weapons System.
This is document will enlighten you to the shockingly extreme conditions that our nuclear weapons system is in right now, and has been in the past. It describes different threats and events that have happened and are threats that are highly likely to happen; each one individually should raise maximum concern. I need you to publish this document or send it to someone who will; please, for the safety of the people.
This will jump between things like food hygiene and a flooded toilets, till describing the complete lack of security, floods, a blazing inferno in the Missile Compartment etc. My aim is to paint an overall picture of what I've seen, and to break down the false images of a perfect system that most people envisage exists.
[More after the break...]
According to a BBC report, A Navy spokesman said:
"The Royal Navy takes security and nuclear safety extremely seriously and we are fully investigating both the issue of the unauthorised release of this document and its contents."
"The naval service operates its submarine fleet under the most stringent safety regime and submarines do not go to sea unless they are completely safe to do so."
The spokesman also said the Navy "completely disagreed" with Mr. McNeilly's report, claiming that it "contains a number of subjective and unsubstantiated personal views, made by a very junior sailor".
However, they added that it was "right" that the contents of the document were considered in detail.
At the risk of editorializing, I am not surprised a navy spokesman is delivering a point-blank denial, along with an implicit admission that the very release of classified information is more troubling to them than the probable and imminent nuclear security threat, but I am curious about the limits of the public patience. If past leaks are any indication, this report will be found accurate. What then? A navy spokesman is either lying to the press about a matter of national security, or is ordered to lie to the press. Either way, it feels like the Navy is piling new crimes on top of the old ones.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 19 2015, @04:05PM
I haven't read the article or the report or anything, but I do have a question for you: are you judging the whistle-blower based on the fact that he was not advanced, or did you go through his statement and judged it useless yourself?
What I want to point out is that, as long as the facts themselves are worthy of attention, it shouldn't matter whether they come from a five year old, or from a respected, experienced elder.
(Score: 2) by wantkitteh on Tuesday May 19 2015, @04:34PM
I've not served in the Navy myself, I'd have no context in which to judge the report on the basis on it's merits, but it's telling the Navy spokesperson separates the issues of the unauthorised release of the report and the content of the report itself. It gives the Navy manoeuvring room to both publicly keelhaul McNeilly and quietly fix the problems he's brought up.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday May 20 2015, @02:07AM
I read the news on multiple sites. Not all news agencies put exactly the same spin on it, and I wanted to get the feel of the story. This seaman seems to be a cut above Bradley Manning, but still he is on thin ice.
It should go without saying that a trusted member of an organization can do far more damage to that organization than any outsider can do. While a member of a ship's crew, I COULD HAVE easily planted a bomb aboard ship. In large part, that is what is being said here. I see a disgruntled young man who didn't get the recognition that he felt that he deserved, so he has exposed some of his command's shortcomings.
He does make some specific allegations that probably need to be addressed. But, I'll bet his paycheck that most of those shortcomings are already being addressed, just not as rapidly as he desires.
I can only sit back, and wait for developments.
And, I have some faith that the rest of the officers and sailors aboard those submarines value their own lives. If they value their lives, they probably aren't as sloppy as portrayed, or if they are, then they are thinking hard about their shortcomings right now.