Elderly nun among anti-nuke peace activists sentenced to prison

A US judge handed down sentences to three peace activists, including an 84-year-old nun, who were convicted of breaking into a Tennessee defense facility where enrichment material for nuclear weapons is held, and staging a protest on federal property. Sister Megan Rice, 84, Greg Boertje-Obed, 57, and Michael Walli, 63, were found guilty in May of destroying US government property and causing more than $1,000 in damage to federal property in the demonstration, RT reported. The trio cut a hole in a chain-link fence in the early morning hours of July 28, 2012 and gained entry to the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. They walked nearly a mile from there, apparently strolling into what was previously thought to be one of the most tightly guarded uranium processing plants in the US. Once inside, the three activists hoisted banners, spray-painted messages, and used human blood to write messages on a building where uranium is stored. A guard only came upon the three an hour later, at which point they offered him food and began singing. The embarrassment forced Congress to investigate with a series of hearings, and then issue a list of security recommendations to the Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency in charge of Y-12 and seven other nuclear weapons facilities. Rice was sentenced to 35 months in prison for her role in the protest. Walli and Boertje-Obed each received 62 months for their part, along with three years of supervised release when they are freed.