- WASHINGTON -- Secret work
on US nuclear weapons at one of America's top laboratories has been halted
and a government inquiry launched after two computer disks went missing,
the third such security breach in eight months.
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- The disappearance of the disks from the Los Alamos base
in New Mexico was blamed on sloppiness among laboratory scientists, whom
their manager described as "cowboys" for their disregard of security
rules, rather than on espionage.
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- "It's a problem of culture," Peter Nanos, the
lab manager, said. "We have to turn that around."
-
- The scandal has jeopardised the University of California's
contract to manage Los Alamos, where nuclear weapons are designed and maintained,
and which the university has run for more than half a century.
-
- Last year, the energy secretary, Spencer Abraham, warned
that it would have to compete for its contract for the first time, after
a string of embarrassing incidents.
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- In 1999 a Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee, was wrongly
accused of spying for China after taking classified material out of the
laboratory.
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- In 2000 two computer hard-disk drives containing an encyclopaedia
of all the world's known weapons designs went missing and were later found
behind a photocopier. Last year two vials of plutonium went missing, and
there have been a string of data disappearances since December.
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- In the latest incident, two disks and two disk drives
went missing, but the drives were found hours later, when it was discovered
a laboratory employee had taken them to another building without checking
them out. The two disks, containing highly sensitive data from the weapons
physics directorate, are still missing.
-
- The suspension of work is likely to continue for several
days.
-
- "The investigation to date indicates widespread
disregard of security procedures by laboratory employees. This is absolutely
unacceptable," Mr Abraham said. "While our first priority must
be to locate the missing material, the government will insist that the
University of California, which operates Los Alamos, ensures that the laboratory
takes strong measures to correct the systematic flaws that allowed this
problem to occur."
-
- He also signalled his displeasure at the University of
California management. "Although it appears the laboratory management
is taking vigorous action to locate the missing material, short-term responsiveness
is no substitute for sustained action to impose effective procedures and
ensure they are followed," Mr Abraham said.
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- He appointed his deputy, Kyle McSlarrow, and the head
of the National Nuclear Security Administration, Linton Brooks, to carry
out an inquiry into the laboratory's security.
-
- Peter Stockton, a former energy department security expert
now working for the Project on Government Oversight, argued that the management
had failed to fulfil its responsibilities.
-
- "The system is broken," Mr Stockton said. "Each
time they say they have designed a foolproof security system, and then
it happens again."
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1263388,00.html
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