Administration dumps nuke chief

Slate ^ | Jan. 8, 2006 | Nathan Hodge

[nukeable]

Unfortunately for [Linton] Brooks, Los Alamos was unable to shed its image as the problem child of the nuclear labs family. In late October 2006, police stumbled upon thumb drives containing classified information from Los Alamos during a meth bust in a trailer park.

On Jan. 4, Brooks finally took the fall.

While news of his dismissal was overshadowed by a major shake-up in the top echelons of the military and the intelligence community, it came at a critical time for the future of the nuclear weapons complex. With very little public attention, the NNSA is embarking on a project called Complex 2030—an ambitious plan to modernize U.S. nuclear weapons facilities. That effort is about to build serious momentum with the selection of a design for the Reliable Replacement Warhead, a new nuclear weapon that some critics worry could lead to the resumption of underground testing.

For Brooks, the firing offense may not have been the security breaches but failing to inform his boss, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, about computer hacking that compromised the personal information of Energy Department contractors. Brooks learned in September 2005 that the computers were hacked, but he didn't inform senior Energy Department officials until months later.

[nukeable]

Why Was the Nuke Chief Dumped?

[barker]

For 14 years I was an inspector of non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons at a plant in KC until I took a buyout about 12 years ago. Even then Los Alamos and Lawerence-Livermore Labs were a joke. We heard some of the "inside" stories and they were enough to make the hair on your head stand up if you cared about security.

[Vn_survivor_67-68]

I had to go looking to learn what a "thumb" drive is, and found an article pertaining to this very case with lots of detail.....

http://www.fcw.com/article97113-12-18-06-Print

[Sherman Logan]

I used to work in Los Alamos, although not directly for the lab, and you're exactly right. I ran across folders labeled Top Secret just laying around loos in homes or cars on several occasions.

[Sherman Logan]

loos = loose. Sorry.