[Infowarrior] - Nuclear security director forced to resign over lapses

[Richard Forno]

Nuclear security director forced to resign over lapses


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the U.S. nuclear security agency has been
forced to resign over management and security issues, Secretary of Energy
Samuel Bodman said Thursday.

Bodman said he asked for the resignation of Linton Brooks, administrator of
the National Nuclear Security Administration, because of issues including a
"serious security breach" at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.

"The deputy secretary and I repeatedly have stressed to NNSA and laboratory
management the importance of these issues being addressed, rectified and
prevented in the future," said a statement issued by Bodman. "While I
believe that the current NNSA management has done its best to address these
concerns, I do not believe that progress in correcting these issues has been
adequate."

Bodman said he decided "it is time for new leadership" at the NNSA.

"I repeatedly have told [Department of Energy] and laboratory employees, and
in particular senior managers, we must be accountable to the president and
the American people not just for efforts, but for results."

Brooks issued a statement to NNSA employees saying he will tender his
resignation to President Bush "shortly" and depart within two to three
weeks.

"One reason for forming NNSA was to prevent such management problems from
occurring," Brooks said. "We have not yet done so in over five years. For
much of that time I was in charge of NNSA. Therefore, the secretary believes
new leadership is needed.

"This is not a decision that I would have preferred, but it was made by a
thoughtful and honorable man and is based on the principle of accountability
that should govern all public service," Brooks said. "I accept the decision
and you need to do likewise."

On October 17 police in Los Alamos, New Mexico, found materials from the
top-secret nuclear facility while searching a home during a drug raid. An
Office of Inspector General report on the incident said police found a
computer flash drive that "contained apparent images of classified documents
from the laboratory. Also found were several hundred pages of what appeared
to be laboratory documents with classified markings." (Full story)

The home belonged to a former employee of the laboratory.

"We found that the security framework relating to this incident ... was
seriously flawed," the OIG said. "In a number of key areas, security policy
was non-existent, applied inconsistently or not followed."

Security problems at Los Alamos first came to light in 1995, when researcher
Wen Ho Lee was accused of giving nuclear warhead data to China. After a
five-year investigation Lee pleaded guilty to a single count of mishandling
classified information. (Full story)

In July 2004, 19 workers were placed on investigative leave after two
computer disks containing classified information was thought to be missing.
The security breach brought the lab to a standstill, and all employees were
ordered to attend retraining sessions on facility security regulations.

Two months later four employees were fired and another resigned after it was
discovered that classified electronic data had been removed from the
facility.
 
 
 
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/04/nuclear.dismissal