A slew of things went wrong for Y-12 security in the early hours of July 28.
A "high number" of surveillance-and-assessment cameras were inoperable at the time, including one at a critical site where three protesters cut through a fence and entered the plant's highest-security area -- ultimately defacing the plant's uranium storage facility with spray-painted messages and splashes of human blood.
Despite receiving numerous alarms from an array of sensors on the fence line, the plant's protective force failed to react as protesters used bolt-cutters to cut through three fences. Even when security guards did respond, they took an excessive amount of time getting to the scene and, once there, failed to take control of the situation until a supervisor took charge and removed the protesters.