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 Los Alamos National LaboratoryThere is serious mismanagement at LANL, including inadequate physical security, unauthorized shipments of anthrax, missing computers and disks, and firing whistleblowers who are trying to expose corruption. |
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 PHYSICAL SECURITY & SAFETY June 2008 - Los Alamos National Laboratory: Long-Term Strategies Needed to Improve Security and Management Oversight, GAO Report, GAO-08-694, June 2008. Gov.'s Diversity Class Riles Lab Workers, Albuquerque Journal, By David Roybal, April 20, 2008.It was a hot potato that bounded menacingly on U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson's lap eight years ago. The heat emanated from the always-sensitive issue of diversity, much as it is today in Albuquerque at one of the national laboratories that Richardson once oversaw as a federal official. Richardson in April 2000 ordered all employees of the energy department -- more than 100,000 -- to attend a daylong diversity training program amid high-profile concerns about discrimination at the federal agency. Applauded by many, the order also stirred grumbling -- and perhaps far more -- during an era that some at Sandia National Laboratories, no doubt, recall today while dusting off controversy surrounding a planned "diversity workshop" later this week. … Conditions then called for more-delicate wording than what might be found in a college professor's presentation but much of the message was the same. Delicate phrasing or not, there was considerable resentment in 2000 in Los Alamos, for sure, among those who considered themselves above mandatory diversity training. Around the time of that meeting eight years ago hard drives disappeared from a vault in a super-secret division at LANL. "Later the hard drives mysteriously reappeared behind a copy machine," reported the Project on Government Oversight. The incident sunk Richardson's national standing and his favored status to become Al Gore's running mate on the Democrats' 2000 presidential ticket. Some are convinced it was plotted in response to Richardson's directive for mandatory diversity training. NNSA Responds to POGO letter to DOE requesting a stop work order for the CMRR at
POGO Alert - Latest Los Alamos National Lab Security Debacles in Its Own Words; LANL Official Doubts Agency’s Ability to Protect Nation’s Secrets, December 12, 2007. LANL Building Project Faulted ; Oversight Group: Lab Rushed Work, Albuquerque Journal, by Raam Wong, December 5, 2007.The builder of a $164 million office building and lab space at Los Alamos National Laboratory earlier this year delivered several batches of substandard concrete to the construction site, according to a Washington, D.C.-based oversight group. The builder, Austin Commercial Contractors, had already poured more than 100 cubic yards of the concrete before the error was discovered by lab quality-assurance personnel, according to the group Project on Government Oversight.The group sent a Nov. 30 letter to the National Nuclear Security Administration calling for a stop-work order on the first phase of construction on the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project. "The rush to haphazardly build the CMRR is likely because of the project's tenuous position in Congress," wrote POGO executive director Danielle Brian, referring to skepticism in Congress about the need to complete the three-phased project. POGO letter to DOE Undersecretary Thomas D’Agostino requesting a stop work order for the CMRR at Los Alamos due to construction concerns, November 30, 2007. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman's response to POGO's September 5, 2007 letter regarding independent oversight for the nuclear weapons complex. September 21, 2007. POGO Alert - Investigative Lead: Missing Computer from Los Alamos Methamphetamine Drug Raid, September 14, 2007. Weaknesses Found at LANL; Report Points To Security Problems, Albuquerque Journal, by Raam Wong, September 7, 2007.The National Nuclear Security Administration's Los Alamos office is besieged with frequent staff turnover and other problems, according to a new report that questions the office's effectiveness in overseeing Los Alamos National Laboratory. The draft report, released Thursday by a government watchdog group, found "significant weakness" in the Los Alamos Site Office's ability to accomplish its mission. The report reviewed 14 of the office's nuclear safety oversight and assessment procedures, and concluded only four met expectations. … The report also found that the Site Office does not effectively oversee the training of contractors. The Washington-based Project on Government Oversight released the draft report Thursday. A POGO spokeswoman said the report points to a lack of aggressive oversight of the nuclear facility. POGO executive director Danielle Brian sent a letter Wednesday to Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman stating that changes in DOE oversight policy allow security breaches at the lab to occur. Brian wrote that the changes allow the lab's contractor, Los Alamos National Security, to investigate itself when there is a security breach or safety violation. She also wrote that Department of Energy investigators must now wait for an invitation from NNSA before being allowed to conduct an investigation at an NNSA site. "POGO strongly urges Secretary Bodman to reinstate the policy of allowing immediate deployment of DOE's Independent Oversight official to investigate security incidents at nuclear weapons facilities," the group said in a statement. POGO Alert - POGO Cites Failing Grade for
POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Samuel Bodman regarding need for independent oversight of the nuclear weapons complex, September 5, 2007. Another Classified Data Incident At Los Alamos–POGO, The Energy Daily, by George Lobsenz, August 7, 2007.In yet another security violation involving classified data at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a government watchdog group said Monday it has confirmed through anonymous sources that sensitive information last week was improperly sent through an e-mail system at the New Mexico nuclear weapons facility that is not approved for classified data. The Project On Government Oversight (POGO), which has repeatedly been proven right in alleging previous incidents of classified data leaks at Los Alamos, also said the alleged new leak has been the subject of furious debate within the Energy Department as to the seriousness of the incident. According to POGO, the incident was initially categorized by officials at Los Alamos as Impact Measurement Index-1 (IMI-1), which represents the most serious threats to national security. POGO added in a press release: “In an attempt to minimize the problem, the breach was downgraded to a less severe category of IMI-4. After another review, however, it was elevated back to IMI-1.” POGO officials said they had no other immediate information about what type of information was exposed in the incident. However, they noted that Los Alamos defines IMI-1 incidents as “actions, inactions, or events that pose the most serious threats to national security interests and/or critical DOE assets...,” including loss of nuclear weapons data or intruder break-ins into DOE computer systems containing top secret information. POGO Alert - Another Security Breach at Los Alamos, August 6, 2007. LANL faces huge fine in security breach, Santa Fe New Mexican, by Andy Lenderman, July 13, 2007.Federal officials have fined the managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory $3.3 million for allowing a major security breach of classified information last year. The $3 million fine for the University of California is the largest ever by the U.S. Department of Energy. Los Alamos National Security, LLC, which took over management of the lab from the university in June 2006, was fined $300,000. The university and Los Alamos National Security have 30 days to appeal the fine to the Energy Department and then could appeal to a U.S. District Court. … Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the security breaches and the department’s response “are a wake-up call for the entire weapons complex. The proposed reforms being developed by the energy secretary to improve security should be implemented complexwide.” Domenici is pushing for $67 million in new money for security upgrades at the lab in fiscal 2008. “It’s unfortunate that it has gotten to the point where DOE has had to impose fines on the lab’s management,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., said in a statement. “DOE has also issued an extensive list of areas where improvements must be made. I hope these actions will have the intended effect of dramatically improving security at every level, and that all LANL employees will step up to ensure successful compliance.” Pete Stockton of the Project on Government Oversight said he’d like to see the fines paid. “The important thing is to recognize that there’s a pattern here. … And some (other security errors) were potentially far worse,” he said. A Breach in Nuclear Security, Time, by Adam Zagorin, April 19, 2007,New Mexico police got more than they bargained for last fall when they responded to a call about a domestic dispute in a trailer park near Los Alamos National Laboratory. Not only had they stumbled on paraphernalia for making the drug crystal meth; they also found thousands of pages of highly classified documents detailing the designs of U.S. nuclear weapons. ... "After years of security breaches at Los Alamos — and this shocking episode in the trailer last fall — you have to wonder, when will it end?" says Danielle Brian, the executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, an independent, non-partisan government watchdog group. "How can we continue to believe Department of Energy promises to end this brazen laxity in the handling of national security information?”
Nuclear security workers anonymously ask Congress for probe, GovExec.com, March 22, 2007, by Darren Goode.A group of current and former employees at the site office managing the contract for Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is asking Congress to investigate health, safety, security and management problems, according to a government watchdog group. It is unclear how many employees are asking for the investigation because they are not publicly revealing their involvement. "Due to fear of retaliation by the Department of Energy management, we are sending you an anonymous letter and requesting that Congress initiate an investigation into mismanagement at the Los Alamos Site Office of the Department of Energy," according to an undated letter to Congress widely distributed Wednesday by the Project On Government Oversight. Pete Stockton, a senior investigator at POGO, said they received the letter two days ago and have been investigating similar claims for several years. Nuke Lab Workers’ SOS to Congress, Wired Blogs: Danger Room, March 21, 2007 by Noah Shachtman.There’s a “culture of mismanagement” at Los Alamos National Laboratory, current and former nuclear security specialists there are saying. And they want Congress to investigat the birthplace of the atomic bomb – again – for “health, safety, security and management concerns.” We have never in our careers, either in public service or the private sector, witnessed such gross mismanagement.” these workers, from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Los Alamos Site Office, say in a letter to Congress, obtained by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO). ... In a press release, POGO notes that the University of California last year won a questionable competition to continue managing Los Alamos – despite a torrent of scandals.
UC exempt from paying $1.1 million for LANL violations, Santa Fe New Mexican, February 27, 2007, by Andy Lenderman.The University of California violated nuclear safety rules at Los Alamos National Laboratory 15 times in 2005, but the university won't pay for it. As a nonprofit institution, the university is exempt from the fines covered by a federal law that regulates nuclear safety at the lab. The university managed the lab until June 1, 2006. The university would have paid a record-breaking $1.1 million in fines had they not been exempt, which would have been the largest single penalty ever in the history of the Department of Energy's nuclear safety program. … Pete Stockton of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight criticized the department for taking nearly two years to investigate and take action. "It's so far from the event," Stockton said. "And then of course there's no penalty." The Department of Energy is authorized by the federal Price-Anderson Amendments Act of 1988 to regulate contract companies that break nuclear safety rules. Accident Report Cites Lax Safety ; 2 Nearly Killed On Job at LANL, Albuquerque Journal, February 24, 2007, by John Arnold.Los Alamos National Laboratory subcontractors, including a company with a questionable safety record, weren't following lab safety procedures prior to a construction accident last year that nearly killed two workers, an internal lab investigation found. According to a 100-page investigation report, the June 28 accident could have been prevented, but LANL officials failed to correct unsafe working conditions, did not effectively enforce safety requirements and failed to consider the safety history of one of its subcontractors, Magnum Steel Constructors. In 2003, a Magnum worker died in a work-related accident in Bernalillo, and the company was cited by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for six serious safety violations, investigators said. … Government watchdogs blasted the decision as "a stunning example of lax federal oversight." "It's the worst fox in the hen house you can have," said Peter Stockton of the Washington, D.C.-based Project on Government Oversight. Stockton hopes that as Congress continues to scrutinize operations at Los Alamos, the federal government will resume its more active oversight role. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held a hearing last month on LANL security issues, and Stockton expects another hearing in the coming weeks. LANL, meanwhile, has just completed another internal investigation into two separate accidents last month in which workers who suffered cuts while working in gloveboxes were exposed to plutonium. Los Alamos begins drug testing, Los Angeles Times, January 31, 2007, by Ralph Vartabedian.Los Alamos National Laboratory has started random drug testing of its scientists, engineers and other employees after finding secret nuclear weapons data in a former worker's residential trailer, lab officials told a House investigation panel Tuesday. … The drug testing is just one of the measures meant to tighten security at the lab, whose series of security breakdowns over the last eight years has infuriated members of Congress. … The lab's discovery of the classified documents in the trailer was first disclosed by the Project on Government Oversight. Danielle Brian, executive director of the group that has been investigating security breakdowns at nuclear weapons facilities, testified that she was particularly concerned about a pilot program that gave more security oversight to the lab. But Brian said she thought random drug testing was a good idea, even though it seemed to show how far matters had slipped since the days of the Manhattan Project, when scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer and Edward Teller developed the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos. "Of course, in the days of Oppenheimer and Teller, drugs weren't as prevalent a part of society as they are today," Brian said in a later interview. "Now, it is part of modern society." Congress scrutinizes Los Alamos security, CBS News, January 30, 2007, by Jennifer Talhelm, Associated Press.Fed-up lawmakers on a House oversight committee said Tuesday they want to strip a federal nuclear agency of its security responsibilities and threatened to shut down Los Alamos National Laboratory to correct a decade of security lapses there. … The lawmakers blistered the lab for its most recent security breach in which a contract worker walked out with hundreds of pages of classified documents. The documents turned up during a drug raid last October involving a man who rented a room at the worker's home. … Officials at the Project on Government Oversight, a private watchdog group, predict that problems will continue unless the government puts more emphasis on safety and security in the lab's management contract and financially penalizes the lab for failing to improve security. The group also encouraged lawmakers to audit the lab's work to see whether it reflects Congress' priorities. "For decades, Los Alamos has operated as a sacred cow with no serious oversight," POGO's executive director, Danielle Brian, said in testimony prepared for the hearing. "I hope this is the beginning of a new era." Testimony of POGO's Danielle Brian, before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, January 30, 2007. Anastasio to testify, Los Alamos Monitor, January 27, 2007, by Roger Snodgrass.A spokesman for Los Alamos National Laboratory confirmed that Director Michael Anastasio would appear before the Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday. "Director Anastasio has been asked to come to Washington to testify before the house subcommittee," said spokesman Kevin Roark. "He is very much looking forward to the opportunity to outline all the things we have done in the aftermath of the Oct.17 cybersecurity incident." … Also appearing, according to the subcommittee's witness list are the Department of Energy's Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman; the Chief Health, Safety and Security Officer Glenn Podonsky; Deputy Energy Secretary Clay Sell; and the chief information officers of both NNSA and DOE, among others. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, is the only non-governmental witness on the subcommittee's list.
U.S. nuclear labs working on weapons safeguards, Los Angeles Times, December 4, 2006, by Ralph Vartabedian.In response to a secret order from President Bush, U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories are developing technology to make the weapons virtually impossible to use if they fall into the wrong hands...The big leap would involve the self-destruction of the weapon without dispersing radioactivity or causing an explosion. The system would be able to destroy the electronic and mechanical components, rendering the plutonium and uranium materials unusable for construction of a crude improvised device..."The real threat is the uranium and plutonium materials that are spread across the country in totally inappropriate places and inadequate facilities," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C., group that has long criticized the Energy Department for lax security. "So, rather than fixing the problem they have, they are trying to fix a problem they don't have." Report rips lab security, Santa Fe New Mexican, November 29, 2006, by Andy Lenderman.A federal investigator blasted Los Alamos National Laboratory on Tuesday for "non-existent" and "seriously flawed" security in relation to an incident where classified information apparently left the nuclear weapons laboratory. The government has already spent "tens of millions" to upgrade lab security and undertaken two major cyber-security initiatives, and the lab went into a 2004 shutdown in an effort to fix problems involving the handling of secret data, a report from the U.S. Department of Energy's Inspector General said. … Reaction to the report was mixed. "This is in no way a discovery of a problem -- this is a problem that was discovered years and years ago," said Danielle Brian of the Project on Government Oversight, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. "And no one has taken it seriously and shown the leadership to fix it." Other places in the country handle classified information but don't have these kinds of repeated problems, Brian said. And the lab still has a "significantly flawed" culture, she said. "They give lip service to security and believe that security precautions really are just annoyances," Brian said. Drug raid leads to classified UC data find, UCSD Guardian, November 9, 2006, by Supriya Satya.A routine police drug bust in a New Mexico trailer home late last month uncovered an unexpected find: stolen classified data from the UC-managed Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation's premier nuclear weapons research facility. The Los Alamos Police Department uncovered not only methamphetamines, but also classified information stored on a USB flash drive, which was confiscated and subsequently linked back to former lab subcontract employee Jessica Quintana, who lived in the trailer during the time of the raid. … Although the lab is under new management, Project on Government Oversight Director Danielle [Brian] said that LANL has not concentrated enough of its efforts on prevention of security breaches. [Brian] told the Associated Press that it was "disturbing" that classified information was found during an apparently routine drug raid. Outsourcing secrets, Federal News Radio, November 8, 2006, with Mike Causey.…All of the above, the trailer, the drugs, the guy and girl, the Top Secret stuff, happened. Plus maybe lots more. Oh, and it was at the hard-luck Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. … Pete Stockton, senior investigator with Project on Government Oversight (POGO) says the arms lab has a problem. In fact Stockton, who said he worked for two years with former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, on Monday told WFED that "there is a certain amount of insanity" involved in the operations of the lab. … Stockton says part of the problem is that the government years ago rejected a plan to tighten security, and that its oversight is now in the hands of contractors. Lab: Classified files not “most sensitive,” Santa Fe New Mexican, November 4, 2006, by Andy Lenderman.Most of the classified material found recently at the home of a former Los Alamos National Laboratory contract employee was low level and decades old, and none of it was top secret, the lab said Friday. … But the head of a watchdog group that investigates federal government actions said the nature of the classified information that got outside the nuclear weapons lab's security perimeter has shaken personnel at Department of Energy headquarters "to the core." "Of course, if you have information about nuclear weapons, they're going to be 20 or 30 years old, because that's how old the weapons are," said Danielle Brian, director of the Project on Government Oversight, a private nonprofit organization. She noted the lab said that most -- not all -- of the material was classified at the lowest level. "I think it's correct that it's not top secret -- it was secret, restricted data," Brian said. And that information is still very sensitive, she said. … Brian, whose group is based in Washington, said the woman at the center of the investigation had an extremely high security clearance and access to extremely sensitive information. … Brian said the lab's statement made the situation sound better than it actually was. "They simply have not taken this matter seriously enough," she said. "They've had so many warnings over the years." … "Someone has got to be held accountable at this point ... ," Brian said. "When you have such a long history of screw-ups, you can't just blame the contractor. The government's got to be held accountable, too." Newscast: Twenty-two year-old Los Alamos employee breaches security, found with classified documents at her home, CBS News: The Saturday Early Show, November 4, 2006.RUSS MITCHELL, co-host: The latest security breach at the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico turns out to be one of the most serious ever at the birthplace of the atomic bomb. CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson broke the story last week, and she's here this morning with exclusive new details. Good morning, Sharyl. SHARYL ATTKISSON reporting: Good morning, Russ. Well, sources tell CBS News the woman who took the classified data from Los Alamos had access to all kinds of national security secrets, including materials showing how to bypass the high-security locks on our nuclear weapons. … Ms. DANIELLE BRIAN (Project on Government Oversight): These are really the kinds of details that terrorists would probably dream of having, how to disarm a nuclear weapon so that they could transport it and then possibly detonate it later, exactly the kinds of things that we never want to have anyone getting access to. Leak adds fuel to security breach fire, Los Alamos Monitor, November 3, 2006, by Roger Snodgrass and Carol A. Clark.The plot thickens. If a newly leaked document concerning a breach of security at Los Alamos National Laboratory turns out to be authentic, the lab may have been more exposed than was first thought. A document purporting to summarize an internal briefing in Los Alamos said additional classified material was found at the trailer home owned by Jessica Quintana, a clerk formerly employed by a contractor at the nuclear weapons laboratory. … The briefing document said investigators had found not only the three portable computer storage devices that were reported by the Los Alamos Police Department previously, but also 228 pages of hard copies printed on two sides. … Peter Stockton of the Project on Government Oversight said this morning that POGO located the author of the memo Thursday night and further confirmed that it came from a "highly reliable" source. The briefing memo enumerates the number of separate classified documents ("408 separate documents") that were on the jump drives. The classification was said to range from "Secret-National Security Information (pertaining to intelligence) to Secret-Restricted Data (pertaining to nuclear weapons.) … Stockton said POGO was following the case closely because the organization has for years urged the weapons complex to convert to a media-less system, that could not be carried outside the security perimeter. Los Alamos nuclear documents found in home, United Press International, November 3, 2006.U.S. authorities are investigating the discovery of nuclear weapons documents in the home of an employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Officials told CBS News Friday that more than 400 pages of documents were found on three portable USB thumb drives, including information on bypassing the security locks on U.S. nuclear bombs. More than 200 pages of printed documents were also discovered at the home of the woman, who worked at the lab and held security clearances giving her access to data on the weapons locks and underground tests. … The Project on Government Oversight issued a statement Friday alleging that the woman had never been drug tested by her employer -- and warning that the security breach could be the worst at Los Alamos since the Rosenberg "Atomic Spy" case in the 1950s. Claim: Drugs leak exposed Brit secrets, United Press International, November 1, 2006.A New Mexico drug bust revealed a crucial leak of British nuclear secrets, a British newspaper has claimed. The London Daily Express newspaper reported Sunday that details of Britain's super-secret Trident submarine-launched nuclear missile program were discovered on computer drives hidden in a mattress that were found in an Oct. 17 drug among other classified materials from the Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory. They were in the possession of a female technician who worked at LANL. … "To fix this problem isn't rocket science -- or even nuclear science," Danielle Brian, executive director of the Washington-based Project on Government Oversight, said in a statement this week. "As POGO recommended in 2001, the entire weapons complex should have gone media-less immediately by removing the capacity of classified computers to copy data onto disks of any kind. There is simply no excuse for Los Alamos to continue to have this vulnerability." POGO said it had received internal emails circulated among U.S. Department of Energy officials that revealed British diplomats in Washington had contacted the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy to ask for a clarification of the Daily Express report. POGO Alert - British Embassy Has Questions about Latest LANL Security Breach; Internal Emails from DOE Show the U.K. Following Up on News Reports, November 1, 2006. Lab boss confirms security breach; LANL director announces new safeguards, Albuquerque Journal, October 28, 2006, by Raam Wong and John Arnold.Los Alamos National Laboratory director Michael Anastasio has confirmed that classified information was found at the home of a former LANL subcontractor. … Federal investigators have been tight-lipped about the contents of three portable computer storage drives found during a drug investigation at a Los Alamos mobile home last week. … Pete Stockton, a senior investigator with the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group, told The Associated Press it was his understanding "from multiple sources" that the documents found at the trailer home related to underground nuclear testing detection, and that Quintana had a "Q" clearance, the highest-level clearance. Meth addict says he knows nothing about classified documents found in mobile home, Washington Post, October 27, 2006, by Deborah Baker, Associated Press.A self-described methamphetamine addict said he doesn't know anything about the classified Los Alamos National Laboratory data that authorities found in the mobile home where he was staying. … The Department of Energy facility, which has been plagued by security lapses in recent years, had been operated by the University of California for decades. Since June, a team made up of the university, Bechtel National, BWX Technologies and Washington Group International has operated it. "I am shocked that in this day and age you can still have memory sticks," said Pete Stockton, a senior investigator with the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. "This is how many years after Wen Ho Lee?" Los Alamos secrets are found in drug factory, The Times, October 26, 2006, by Catherine Philp.A drugs bust at a trailer park in New Mexico has turned up what appear to be classified documents from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons laboratory, the latest in a series of embarrassing security leaks from the home of the atom bomb. Los Alamos police arrived at the trailer park after receiving a domestic violence call and discovered drug paraphernalia that suggested the home was being used as a factory for the production of methamphetamine, or crystal meth. While searching the records of the occupant for evidence of a drug-dealing business, officers stumbled across the documents stored on a computer file. When the FBI was alerted, they traced the contents back to a woman working as a maintenance subcontractor at the top-secret laboratory who was linked to the drug suspect. … "Los Alamos has always seemed to be rewarded for its screw-ups," Danielle Brian, the executive director of Project on Government Oversight, said. "We're waiting with bated breath to see if anything has changed." Another possible data security breach at Los Alamos, Federal Times, October 26, 2006, by Stephen Losey.Another possible breach at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico is raising new questions about data security at the troubled nuclear weapons facility. Los Alamos police responding to a domestic violence call on Oct. 17 at the home of former laboratory subcontractor Jessica Quintana found three thumb drives with markings indicating they came from the lab, according to Jessica Blea, an office specialist for the police department. … “This appears to be a new low,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. Energy probes another data loss, FCW.com, October 26, 2006, by Michael Hardy.The National Nuclear Security Administration is investigating the Energy Department to see whether the Los Alamos National Laboratory is complying with departmental security directives, according to a statement that NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks issued today. The action came after police in New Mexico found what appeared to be information from the lab while arresting a man for possession of drug paraphernalia earlier this month, according to published accounts. … “This appears to be a new low," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight. "Even drug dealers can get classified information out of Los Alamos." FBI eyes contractor in Los Alamos leak, Washington Times, October 26, 2006, by Jerry Seper.The FBI is focusing on a subcontractor at the Los Alamos National Laboratory as the possible source of classified information from the nuclear-weapons facility discovered during the arrest of a New Mexico man on drug charges. Federal authorities said yesterday that the subcontractor, Jessica Quintana, was questioned after Los Alamos police discovered the classified data during a search for evidence of a drug business after the arrest of Justin Stone, 20, Friday. Miss Quintana, who authorities said shared the mobile home with Mr. Stone, has not been charged in the case. "This appears to be a new low: Even drug dealers can get classified information out of Los Alamos," said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project On Government Oversight, a watchdog that has exposed seven incidents involving the mishandling or loss of classified information at nuclear-weapons facilities since 2002. Los Alamos confirms data breach, Los Angeles Times, October 26, 2006, by Ralph Vartabedian.Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation's key nuclear weapons research centers, confirmed Wednesday that it experienced a potentially major security breach -- discovered last week when police found three laboratory computer drives during a drug arrest at a New Mexico trailer park. … Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, which has prodded the Energy Department to beef up security at nuclear weapons sites, said the case showed that very little had improved at Los Alamos under the new contract. "Despite the changes in the contract, we are still seeing the same old sloppiness," Brian said. "The government needs to be more serious about oversight at the lab." Local meth case turns into counterintelligence investigation, ABC News, October 25, 2006, by Jason Ryan and Pierre Thomas.A local drug investigation by the Los Alamos, N.M., Police Department has turned into an FBI counterintelligence investigation and has top nuclear security officials in Washington worried about security at the nation's nuclear labs. … During the search, according to documents obtained by ABC News, police recovered three computer memory sticks and a compact disc containing photographs. The computer devices are currently being analyzed by FBI technicians. "There is no question this should have been taken far more seriously a long time ago by Los Alamos. The fact that this could still be happening is just absurd," said Danielle Brian, at the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group based in Washington. US DOE probing how Los Alamos documents went missing, Dow Jones Newswires, October 25, 2006, by Maya Jackson Randall.U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Wednesday said the department will be conducting its own internal review to try to determine how classified documents from the Los Alamos National Laboratory turned up at a New Mexico trailer park this week. … The Project On Government Oversight said the security breach is one of several incidents involving the mishandling or loss of classified information over the past several years at the nuclear weapons laboratory. The group said the information may have been Secret Restricted Data, meaning it could have included information about U.S. underground nuclear weapons testing. "This appears to be a new low: even drug dealers can get classified information out of Los Alamos," said Danielle Brian, POGO's executive director. Another breach at Los Alamos, Los Angeles Times, October 25, 2006.A drug raid at a trailer park in New Mexico turned up what appeared to be classified documents taken from the Los Alamos nuclear weapons lab, the FBI said Tuesday. Police found the documents while arresting a man suspected of domestic violence and dealing methamphetamine from his mobile home, said Sgt. Chuck Ney of the Los Alamos, N.M., Municipal Police Department. The documents were discovered during a search of the man's records for evidence of his drug business, Ney said. … Even though Los Alamos is now under new management, Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, said the lab had not done much to clean up its act. "Los Alamos has always seemed to be rewarded for its screw-ups," Brian said. "We're waiting with bated breath to see if anything has changed." The idea that police found classified documents in a suspected drug lab is disturbing, she said. "The problem is when you actually have those materials that are supposed to be protected inside the lab and you find them outside the lab in the hands of criminals, that should worry everybody," Brian said. Drug raid yields Los Alamos documents, Washington Post, October 25, 2006, by Lara Jakes Jordan, Associated Press.Authorities in northern New Mexico have stumbled onto what appears to be classified information from Los Alamos National Laboratory while arresting a man suspected of domestic violence and dealing methamphetamine from his mobile home. … Even though Los Alamos is now under new management, Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight said the lab has not done much to clean up its act. "Los Alamos has always seemed to be rewarded for its screw-ups," Brian said. "We're waiting with baited breath to see if anything has changed." The idea that police found classified documents at a home where a drug sting was being conducted is disturbing, she said. "The problem is when you actually have those materials that are supposed to be protected inside the lab and you find them outside the lab in the hands of criminals -- that should worry everybody," Brian said. POGO Alert - Los Alamos Classified Info Found in Drug Raid, October 25, 2006. N.M. may be new hub of nukes; candidates for center include Los Alamos, Albuquerque Journal, October 20, 2006, by John Fleck.Los Alamos is on the short list to host the nation's 21st century nuclear weapons research and manufacturing center, federal officials announced Thursday. But the federal official in charge of the program, Tom D'Agostino, said Los Alamos may not be well-suited to the job. … In a recent Journal interview, D'Agostino said security concerns make Los Alamos less than ideal. Sen. Jeff Bingman, D-N.M., who has discussed the project with D'Agostino, said he believes federal officials do not want to locate the large nuclear material storage center at Los Alamos. Security at Los Alamos is difficult because of the site's layout, adjacent to communities and threaded with roads, said Pete Stockton, a former federal nuclear security official who now works for the Project on Government Oversight. Stockton said the remote Nevada Test Site is far better from a security standpoint. Enforcement Actions for Safety Violations at
POGO Alert - Leaked Docs: Los Alamos Safety Foibles Result in Largest Estimated Fine Ever, September 12, 2006. POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Bodman raising safety concerns, August 15, 2006. NNSA Blasted for Lack of Accident Inquiry; 2 Workers Hurt on LANL Job Site, Albuquerque Journal, August 4, 2006, by John Arnold.A government watchdog group blasted the National Nuclear Security Administration on Thursday for not launching an investigation into a recent Los Alamos National Laboratory construction accident that hospitalized two workers, one of them for more than three weeks. In a news release issued Thursday, the Washington D.C.-based Project On Government Oversight, or POGO, called the decision "a stunning example of lax federal oversight." POGO Alert - POGO Slams Decision Not to Investigate Recent Accident at LANL, August 3, 2006. Los Alamos Management Named, Washington Post, December 22, 2005.The Energy Department announced yesterday it had selected the University of California and Bechtel National Inc. to manage the legendary but strife-ridden Los Alamos National Laboratory. read this article » UC Retains Contract for Los Alamos, Los Angeles Times, December 22, 2005.The Energy Department cites the university's new corporate partners as it OKs a $512-million pact, which was put out to bid after security lapses. 5 workers exposed to deadly plutonium in accident this week, San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2005.The new director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory cleared up one question Thursday about who will be in charge of ensuring the troubled weapons lab is run efficiently and problem-free under a new management team led by the University of California and Bechtel. read this article » Weapons-Grade Nukes Moved From Los Alamos, Associated Press, November 3, 2005.The federal government has finished moving its most sensitive weapons-grade nuclear material from a Los Alamos National Laboratory technical area to more secure sites, a lab spokesman said Thursday. read this article » Late reported accident hospitalized lab worker, Los Alamos Monitor, August 11, 2005.Los Alamos National Laboratory management learned last week that two employees apparently suffered work-related injuries in June. POGO Alert -
Error at lab spreads nuclear material, Contamination from Los Alamos found in 4 states, San Francisco Chronicle, August 9, 2005.The apparent mishandling of a potentially hazardous radioactive substance by an employee of the University of California-run Los Alamos National Laboratory has resulted in contamination of sites in four states, according to a report released Monday. POGO Alert - Radioactive Package Shipped Fedex to
 POGO Alert - POGO Urges Department of Energy to Hold New Manager of Los Alamos Accountable. December 1, 2004. Internal Los Alamos "TA-18 Closure Plan" confirming that all Special Nuclear Materials will be removed from the vulnerable site by Sept 2005. August 20, 2004. POGO Alert - Proposal to Secure Los Alamos Quashed. August 13, 2004. POGO Letter to DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham regarding security at nuclear weapons complex. August 13, 2004. Los Angeles Times editorializes "UC Should Quit Los Alamos," August 2, 2004. Senator Pete Domenici's "Open Letter to Los Alamos." July 22, 2004. POGO Letter to DOE Deputy Secretary McSlarrow, Chairman Barton and Rep. DeGette concerning media-less security at Los Alamos National Laboratory, July 16, 2004. Nuclear weapons complex official Everett Beckner confirms intent to stonewall full move of all nuclear materials from dangerous at Los Alamos. May 12, 2004. POGO Alert - POGO's Statement Regarding DOE's Movement of Los Alamos Nuclear Materials. April 1, 2004. National Public Radio two-part series on nuclear weapons facility security. February 26, 2004 "Lehrer News Hour: POGO vs. Los Alamos and the Department of Energy." In this program, a number of issues were left unresolved. Click here to see POGO's Myths and Facts. September 12, 2003. POGO Alert - LANL Admits Losing Plutonium. Los Alamos National Laboratory officials acknowledged "the Laboratory's inability to fully account for two low-purity analytical samples of plutonium-oxide." June 20, 2003. POGO Alert - Statement Regarding Bidding of Los Alamos National Laboratory Contract. April 30, 2003. POGO Alert - POGO Calls for Immediate Competition of Los Alamos Contract. Scandals that have already been publicized are far more serious than reported. April 29, 2003. POGO Letter to Energy Secretary Abraham recommending immediate competition of management contract of Los Alamos. April 29, 2003 POGO Alert -- Reporter Sneaks into Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Lab Undetected. Wired.com's Noah Shachtman visited Los Alamos and found that: "To sneak into Los Alamos National Laboratory, the world's most important nuclear research facility, all you do is step over a few strands of rusted, calf-high barbed wire." February 25, 2003. POGO letter to DOE Official Dr. Everet H. Beckner regarding security and safety issues at LANL, January 13, 2003.To learn more on the suspended safety manager read the The Los Angeles Times article, January 29, 2003. POGO Alert - Leaked Documents: DOE to Move Nuclear Weapons Material over Security Concerns, August 11, 2002.To learn more, read article in the Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2002. Or read the recent article in the New York Times, August 12, 2002 ANTHRAX Albuquerque Journal, LANL Owes An Explanation, regarding Anthrax shipment to Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory, December 2, 2001. LANL Gets Unauthorized Anthrax Shipment, Platts Inside Energy, November 26, 2001. Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory (LANL) Occurrence Report and LANL letter to Center for Disease Control regarding Anthrax, November 21, 2001. POGO Alert - Investigative Lead - Apparent Unauthorized Shipment of Anthrax, November 20, 2001. CYBER-SECURITY What’s Next, LANL Plans on MySpace? Albuquerque Journal, Editorial, June 16, 2007.The University of California was in charge of Los Alamos National Laboratory back in 1999 when Uncle Wen, suspected of mishandling nuclear secrets, said hello to a jail cell. It was in charge in 2000 when two missing hard drives with classified info were found lodged behind a copy machine. It was in charge in 2004 when secret info was repeatedly e-mailed over unsecure lines. And when two data storage devices were reported AWOL - almost shuttering the lab - before it was determined they never existed. ... executive director of the Project on Government Oversight in Washington, presciently asked “what does it take for UC to suffer the consequences of screwing up? We expect to see a continuation of the era of chaos at Los Alamos.” Anger Over Nuclear Secrets Leak, Time, by Adam Zagorin, June 14, 2007.A senior U.S. official had to be pulled out of a White House meeting to hear the bad news: highly classified e-mail dealing with the composition of America's atomic weapons had illegally been sent via non-secured networks to members of the board of Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), the company that manages America's nuclear lab in New Mexico. After it was discovered, the fact that the message had passed electronically from person to person without safeguards was quickly designated an "IMI-1" violation, the most serious breach of U.S. national security. LANS could face financial penalties if found responsible for the violation. Upon learning of the Jan. 19, 2007, incident, government officials immediately ordered the seizure of computers that had sent or received the super-sensitive information. ... A spokesperson for the Department of Energy in Washington said: "Safety and security are of paramount importance in carrying out the Department's mission and therefore, as with any instance of a potential violation of security procedures—whether it's done accidentally or not, these matters must be reported, details thoroughly investigated, and actions taken to correct them." But Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a non-partisan, non-profit group with long experience monitoring nuclear security, took a different view: "How can we expect Los Alamos, which has thousands of employees, to clean up its abysmal ongoing record of serious security breaches when members of its own board can't even keep track of their classified communications with each other?" And those responsible for congressional oversight of nuclear security are likely to insist that when such breaches do occur, Capitol Hill should not be kept in the dark. Letter from Reps. Dingell and Stupak to DOE Secretary Bodman regarding security at Los Alamos National Laboratory, June 14, 2007. Response Letter from DOE Secretary Bodman, June 15, 2007. Pity Los Alamos' Whistle-Blowers, op-ed by POGO's Danielle Brian and Peter Stockton, Los Angeles Times, August 12, 2004. The latest round of missing classified information at Los Alamos National Laboratory has spurred lab, government and University of California officials to engage in the ritualistic and disingenuous performance of scratching their heads in disbelief and wonder. Nuclear Lab's Missing Disks May Not Exist, New York Times, August 12, 2004. A simple clerical error may be to blame for the security alarm that led to the shutdown of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, people inside and outside the laboratory say. Los Alamos Lab Has Documentation Troubles, New York Times, August 11, 2004. Los Alamos National Laboratory has failed to properly keep track of several computers that handle classified information, an Energy Department report says. UC alone didn't ruin Los Alamos, op-ed by POGO's Nick Schwellenbach, The Daily Texan, August 10, 2004. The latest rash of security problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory has led many to concentrate on the culpability of the University of California System. POGO Alert - POGO: Internal Los Alamos document proves cyber security lapses long known. August 5, 2004. POGO Alert - Thumbs Up to Secretary Abraham's Decision to Halt Classified Removable Media Operations in Nuclear Weapons Complex. July 23, 2004. POGO Alert - Nuclear Weapons Complex Chief Linton Brooks Should Resign. July 21, 2004. Classified E-Mail Left Nuclear Lab. Los Angeles Times, July 19, 2004. Los Alamos National Laboratory officials have discovered in recent weeks that secret information at the nuclear weapons facility was repeatedly transmitted over an unclassified e-mail system. POGO Alert - Unconfirmed Investigative Lead - More security blunders at Los Alamos. July 18, 2004. POGO Letter to DOE Deputy Secretary McSlarrow, Chairman Barton and Rep. DeGette concerning media-less security at Los Alamos National Laboratory, July 16, 2004. Clampdown At Los Alamos. CBS Evening News, July 15, 2004. A search is under way for computer disks containing atomic weapons secrets missing from the nuclear weapons lab at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. POGO Alert - At Los Alamos, Security Failures keep "happening, and happening, and happening." July 15, 2004. POGO Alert - Only Half-truths from Los Alamos - POGO Recommends Termination of University of California's Los Alamos Contract. July 14, 2004. POGO Alert - Classified Computer Media Missing at Los Alamos. May 20, 2004. POGO Alert - Computer Disks with Classified Information Missing at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). LANL's repeated loss of classified computer media is problematic. December 9, 2003 POGO Alert - DOE Secretary "Deeply Troubled" Over Missing Classified Hard Drive at Los Alamos National Laboratory. January 17, 2003. POGO Alert - Investigative Lead - Another Computer Hard Drive is Missing at Los Alamos. A computer hard drive that contains classified data has been missing from the Los Alamos National Laboratory since October 2002, but top officials at the Department of Energy have failed to investigate the loss. January 15, 2003. POGO Alert - Leaked Document: Mishandling Lost and Stolen Computers at Los Alamos. New documents show serious problems in the handling of lost and stolen computers and other property at Los Alamos National Laboratory. November 19, 2002. Los Alamos On Hot Seat Again, Wired News, November 8, 2002. LANL locates missing disk in inventory, Santa Fe New Mexican, January 30, 2002. Missing Los Alamos Disk Found, Associated Press, January 29, 2002. Press Release: Missing Computer Data at Los Alamos? Continuing Security Lapses May Jeopardize National Security, January 29, 2002 FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT Power and Money in Los Alamos Contract,
The competition for the newly lucrative contract to run Los Alamos National Laboratory is now a head-to-head battle between two formidable teams: on one side, the University of California and engineering powerhouse Bechtel; on the other, the University of Texas and Lockheed Martin, the nation's largest defense contractor. “The Mess at Los Alamos,” commentary by CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer, March 20, 2005. "National Weapons Lab Amid Another Financial Scandal," CBS News, March 20, 2005.Bob Schieffer thinks more attention should be paid to the mess at the Los Alamos National Weapons Center. Security there is a joke and millions of American tax dollars have been wasted. (You need Real Player to watch this video) watch this video » |
