Four more employees suspected of being involved in the security
incident that shut down the Los Alamos National Laboratory were
placed on investigatory leave last week, bringing the total number
of employees on leave up to 23.
Work was halted on July 16 at the University of California-run
lab due to the disappearance of two portable Zip drives containing
highly classified information. Security concerns regarding portable
electronic devices and the lab employees’ attitudes toward
safety and security has prevented officials from resuming
classified work at the lab.
Fifteen workers at the lab were placed on investigatory leave
July 22 for security violations involving the loss of data, and
four were placed on leave for a separate safety incident involving
an intern who suffered an eye injury from a laser.
Lab director Pete Nanos said disciplinary action for the loss of
the Zip drives will encompass all levels of management, but
criminal charges are not expected to be filed by any other
agency.
Nanos added that the lab will have the proper level of
discipline when work is resumed.
Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said a fairly large number of low-risk
activities, most of which are administrative, have been
restarted.
During a visit last week from UC officials, Nanos said it will
be roughly two months before the lab can resume its normal
operations.
UC Board of Regents Chairman Gerald Parksy said he has been
ready and eager to visit the lab to express his concerns to the
employees.
“We cannot tolerate the recent security and safety
incidents because they have shifted the focus of the nation away
from this great scientific and technological research,”
Parksy said.
Parksy said the regents believe the work done at the lab is for
the safety and security of the nation.
“We carry great pride with respect to the scientific work
that has been done,” Parksy said. He added that the regents
are concerned about anything that would “jeopardize or cloud
that work.”
UC President Robert Dynes reiterated his belief in the positive
relationship of the UC and the Los Alamos lab to the lab’s
employees. While offering no specifics, he expressed his desire to
assist the lab employees with fixing the lab’s problems.
“I need you to help me to help you. I will do everything I
can,” Dynes told employees.
The security problems at the Los Alamos Lab have raised concerns
for the regents over whether the UC should bid for a renewal of its
management of the lab when its contract expires next year.
Parksy said the board will be reviewing the lab and making sure
the problems that led to the security lapses are corrected before a
renewal will be considered.
A possible bid by the UC is further complicated by the Friday
announcement that Lockheed Martin Corp., the nation’s largest
defense contractor, would not compete for management of the lab.
Both the University of Texas and the UC had been in talks with the
firm to develop a partnership for the management of the labs before
it announced its decision not to bid.
Wendy Owen, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin, explaining the
company’s decision to bow out, said the amount of resources
needed to run Los Alamos could compromise the well- being of its
other labs.
With reports from Richard Clough, Bruin senior
staff.