Pelosi demands probe of nuke leak

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday called for an official investigation into the accidental posting on the Internet of sensitive details on hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons-related facilities, laboratories, research sites and reactors, including the location of fuel for nuclear bombs.

The 268-page dossier was mistakenly posted on an open Web site for days before being removed Tuesday.

“The disclosure of information related to nuclear facilities suggests that the current system does not provide adequate review and safeguards,” Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, said in a statement. “Accordingly, I have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate immediately what led to the disclosure of this information and to make recommendations to prevent a similar disclosure.”

Top Obama administration officials called the accidental release embarrassing, but insisted that the disclosures did not put national security at risk.

“While we would have preferred that it not be released, the Departments of Energy, Defense, Commerce and the [Nuclear Regulatory Agency] all thoroughly reviewed it to ensure that no information of direct national security significance would be compromised,” said Damien LaVera, spokesman for the National Nuclear Security Administration in a statement.

But Energy Secretary Steven Chu, testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday, said he was concerned about the accidental release of information on nuclear and uranium storage facilities at the department’s Oak Ridge, Tenn. facility.

“We will be looking hard and making sure physical security of those sites is sufficient to prevent eco-terrorists and others from getting hold of that material,” he said.

Asked how the information had made its way onto the Internet, Mr. Chu told a House Appropriations subcommittee, “Somebody made a mistake.”