Report: Los Alamos Security FlawedWednesday November 29, 2006 2:46 AM
By DEBORAH BAKER
Associated Press Writer
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Security at Los Alamos National Laboratory was "seriously flawed"
when a worker removed classified documents later found in her home during a drug bust,
the Department of Energy's inspector general has concluded.
In a number of key areas, security policies at the nuclear weapons lab were nonexistent,
not followed or were applied inconsistently, according to Inspector General Gregory H.
Friedman's summary of his investigation.
Cyber-security internal controls and safeguards were not functioning as intended, and
monitoring by the lab and federal officials was inadequate, he said.
Friedman's two-page memo, dated Monday, said the findings are "especially troubling"
because the department has spent tens of millions of dollars to upgrade the lab's security
apparatus and because previous security lapses were part of the reason the department
decided to re-bid the contract to operate Los Alamos.
-snip-