All operations at the UC-run Los Alamos National Laboratory were
halted Friday resulting from a loss of classified material earlier
this month. Lab officials say there are no definitive dates when
the lab will resume work.
The devices at Los Alamos were discovered missing from the
weapons physics division on July 6.
Officials will review each lab department’s activities and
recommend work to be resumed when the department is deemed capable
of handling classified material. Some departments are expected to
resume work earlier than others.
There are exceptions to the lab shutdown so that critical work
involving national security can continue, lab representatives
said.
To add to the lab’s many woes, the latest incident in the
lab involved a 20-year-old intern who was hit in the eye with a
laser while working on an experiment on July 14. Â
Researchers believe the laser was not producing light when it
hit the intern in the eye. The laser caused a serious retinal
lesion and the intern was flown to Baltimore to see a specialist.
The injury is not expected to cause the intern to lose vision in
her eye.
The loss of classified material at Los Alamos National
Laboratory drew the ire and frustration of the UC Board of Regents
that said the incident is “totally unacceptable” and
called for major reforms at the labs during its bimonthly meeting
July 15.
Lab officials, who met with the regents by special request, said
they suspect two classified computer disks may have been misplaced
or improperly moved by employees. They are currently investigating
the matter, and the laboratory has suspended all research which
deals with classified information, said retired Adm. Robert Foley,
the vice president of UC lab management.
“Part of me wants to say get rid of these damn labs. Fire
everybody and start over,” said Regent Ward Connerly, but
added, “I don’t believe there is another institution in
the country that has the capability of the UC to manage the
labs.”
The incident was frustrating for many regents because it is one
in a long series of recent administrative problems that have
occurred at the labs, which the university has managed for more
than 60 years.
“We go out and fix one set of problems, and lo and behold,
another set of problems shows up,” said Regent George
Marcus.
Pete Nanos, the director of Los Alamos, declined to say whether
the information on the missing disks deals with nuclear weapons,
which are part of some of the experiments carried out at the
labs.
But he said there is “clear evidence that people did not
follow the rules” for moving or relocating classified
materials, and added that he would be keeping lab employees under
more scrutiny in the future. “I’ve drawn the line in
the sand with the workers of Los Alamos.”
Nanos also said there was no indication the missing materials
had left the labs.
The incident at Los Alamos comes at a particularly crucial time
given the university is considering competing for the Los Alamos
management contract in 2005.
It is also another link in what has become a chain of
embarrassments for the UC and Los Alamos. Problems such as the
misappropriating of funds, missing inventory, and misplaced
classified data at UC labs led the U.S. Department of Energy to put
up for bid all lab management contracts that have been held
uncontested for more than 50 years.
This would include the Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and
Berkeley National labs, all run by the UC. But recently, the
Department of Energy extended the UC’s contract for Lawrence
Livermore by two years.
Nanos, the director of Los Alamos, told the regents the
investigation into the missing material at Los Alamos would be done
by Friday. But later at a press conference he said it would go as
long as necessary.
Regent chairman Gerald Parsky said he and UC President Robert
Dynes would visit Los Alamos within 30 days to tour the labs and
speak with employees.
Additionally, Deputy Secretary of Energy Kyle McSlarrow and
Linton Brooks of the National Nuclear Security Administration, who
are overseeing the investigation for the energy department, will
also visit Los Alamos soon, according to a statement from the
department.
Both Foley and Nanos said this incident, unlike previous ones,
did not occur because the lab’s system for tracking
classified material had failed. Rather, they said one or several
lab employees who knew the security procedures had deliberately
ignored it. Foley said such an incident was bound to happen in a
self-contained place like Los Alamos.
Dynes said the mismanagement would not be tolerated.
“The American people have placed a trust in us, and we
have to live up to that trust. I will not tolerate a violation of
that trust.”