An investigation at Los Alamos National Laboratory has uncovered
evidence that thousands of dollars of lab funds may have been spent
inappropriately on items like hand lotion and brand name shoes.
The new report, released Thursday, also identified multiple
shortcomings in lab procedures to prevent fraud and waste. The
University of California has managed LANL since World War II.
The report, written by the UC’s external investigators and
led by former Department of Energy Inspector General John Layton,
also listed corrective actions already taken, and recommended
future steps to fix management.
“The weaknesses … are being rapidly addressed by a
complete re-engineering of the laboratory’s business
practices,” stated LANL Interim Director George Nanos.
According to the report, the same weaknesses cited by Nanos
“increase the vulnerability of LANL to potential fraud waste
and abuse.”
Investigators examined records of over $2.2 billion of lab
purchases, and found $14,530 may have been spent
inappropriately.
“We are particularly troubled by the unusually high volume
of purchases of such items as hand lotion, jackets and shoes. We
have instructed the laboratory to re-examine each of these
purchases,” said Bruce Darling, interim vice president for
laboratory management and senior vice president of university
affairs, in a statement.
Troubles at LANL first became public last November, with reports
of missing equipment and lab employees using lab funds for personal
purchases.
Allegations of mismanagement were compounded when two
investigators reporting problems were fired. Both have since been
rehired by the UC and are working on current investigations. The
university has also replaced high-level officials at LANL.
The federal government has also ordered multiple investigations
of LANL. Washington could recommend to cancel the UC’s
contract with the Department of Energy.
Standing UC policy is to not compete for the contract if it is
ever put to bid, but this could be changed by the UC Board of
Regents.
The UC plans to release an independent report on lab management
in the near future, as well as a complete inventory of LANL. The
university has no plans to launch additional audits of their
own.
“We’re investigated out,” said press aide
Michael Reese.