Richard Levernier
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Richard Levernier had 23 years of experience as a nuclear security professional and identified security problems at U.S. nuclear facilities as part of his job. Specifically, after 9/11, he pointed out problems with contingency plans to protect US nuclear plants from terrorist attacks, mainly that the plans assumed attackers would both enter and exit from facilities, whereas suicide terrorists would not need to exit. In response, the U.S. Department of Energy withdrew Levernier's security clearance and relegated him to administrative work. Levernier sought the assistance of the United States Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which handles US federal whistleblower matters. It took four years for the OSC to vindicate Levernier, ruling that the Department's retaliation was illegal - but the OSC could not reinstate Levernier's security clearance, so he was unable to regain work in nuclear security.[1][2]