Free Republic

US Energy Department to shut down labs over leaksAP , WASHINGTON Sunday, Jul 25, 2004,Page 1 The US Department of Energy (DOE), responding to a security scandal at the Los Alamos weapons lab, ordered a halt to classified work at as many as two dozen facilities that use removable computer disks like those missing at the New Mexico lab. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said on Friday that the "stand-down" at DOE operations that use the disks, containing classified material involving nuclear weapons research, was needed to get better control over the devices. The disks, known as "controlled removable electronic media"...

Yup, Savage was right: he predicted last week that the media would go overboard covering a missing woman, and sure enough .. sadly, but sure enough .. here comes a missing woman in Utah and a suspicious husband. They are purposely avoiding discussing the acts of possible treason and theft of classified documents by the Bergler ..even Geraldo .. it's disgusting. ""When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded." Sandy Berger A very telling Washington Times editorial, posted on...

LOS ALAMOS— FBI agents seized a small computer hard drive marked "secret," two rolls of printed stickers reading "secret" and a Verbatim-brand 8 mm tape from a business that for years has sold recycled equipment from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other places. An agent confiscated the items Tuesday and gave Black Hole Store and Museum owner Ed Grothus an itemized receipt listing the things taken, Grothus said. Grothus said Friday that the items have been a big joke in his store for years. "I had for years been jesting" that they were missing tapes from the federal nuclear weapons...

Today: July 23, 2004 at 6:42:27 PDT 19 Workers Suspended at Los Alamos By BARRY MASSEY ASSOCIATED PRESS LOS ALAMOS, N.M. (AP) - Nineteen employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory were suspended with pay while officials investigate security and safety breaches, including the disappearance of two computer disks with classified information. Lab Director Pete Nanos announced the actions Thursday as the lab and the University of California, which manages the facility for the Department of Energy, came under renewed criticism in Congress for the latest in a series of security problems. "I am fed up with the careless way the...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Fisk University's new president, Clinton administration Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary, was escorted off a flight and questioned by the FBI after she became abusive and tried to get into the cockpit while the plane was delayed on the tarmac, authorities said. O'Leary said she simply wanted to get off the plane. "I regret the unfortunate misunderstanding that occurred," she said in a statement. "The situation was resolved. At no time was I rude or disrespectful to anyone." The United Airlines crew told police that O'Leary was "getting loud and abusive" after the flight was diverted to Richmond,...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. July 23, 2004 — Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Friday ordered a halt to all Energy Department operations across the country that use the kind of computer disks reported missing last week at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Under his order, each Energy Department installation will suspend operations Monday involving removable data-storage devices such as computer disks. Each site will conduct an inventory of such items and perform weekly inventories after that. The announcement comes after two computer disks were reported missing from Los Alamos on July 7. On Thursday, that lab announced that 19 employees had been suspended...

LOS ALAMOS— Los Alamos National Laboratory director Pete Nanos told employees Thursday they no longer are in a fight to retain University of California control of the labs but now are fighting to maintain the labs' very existence. By losing credibility when sensitive materials are lost or mishandled, Nanos said, Los Alamos could lose business from private corporations as well as federal funding and support. Indeed, on Thursday, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., long considered LANL's biggest booster, released an "open letter" to the residents of Los Alamos that was highly critical of the lab. Nanos railed against employees and scientists...

Headline only...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The Los Alamos National Laboratory director, tired of security lapses at the northern New Mexico lab, has brought nearly all work there to a standstill and is calling scofflaw "cowboys" out for a final showdown. Pete Nanos took the unprecedented step Friday of broadening a stand-down of classified work to include all lab activities. "We are doing this as part of an effort to ensure this laboratory operates safely and meets our national security obligations," Nanos said in a memo to all employees. He said there will be exceptions to his order, so that critical missions...

AUSTIN - Students, activists and protestors attended the University of Texas Systems board meeting Friday to blast the regents for their interest in managing the problem-riddled nuclear laboratory that created the atomic bomb. While proponents spoke to benefits in technology and education by managing the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, activist groups don't want the university associated with such an endeavor. Hoping to sway the regents from submitting a bid to the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the site, activists spoke about Thursday's Los Alamos lab closure after a major security breach last week. They also gave...

Los Alamos National Laboratory director Pete Nanos shut down the country's leading nuclear weapons lab on Friday, after a set of classified computer disks disappeared and a student was hit in the eye with a powerful laser beam -- all in the space of a week. "As of today, director Nanos has suspended all operations at the laboratory," an internal e-mail obtained by Wired News read. "This is a very serious step." "This willful flouting of the rules must stop, and I don't care how many people I have to fire to make it stop. If you think the rules...

After the disappearance last week of two removable data storage devices, officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory yesterday announced a halt to classified research while they conduct an inventory of sensitive data. The halt affects the majority of work at Los Alamos, one of the nation's two nuclear weapons research laboratories. The loss of the storage devices was discovered July 7 during preparations to run an experiment in the laboratory's weapons physics division. The devices have not been found. The security lapse comes ...

After the disappearance last week of two removable data storage devices, officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory yesterday announced a halt to classified research while they conduct an inventory of sensitive data. The halt affects the majority of work at Los Alamos, one of the nation's two nuclear weapons research laboratories. The loss of the storage devices was discovered July 7 during preparations to run an experiment in the laboratory's weapons physics division. The devices have not been found. The security lapse comes as the contract for managing Los Alamos goes out to bid. The University of California has run...

Frantic search for lost data at Los Alamos Director of UC-run lab called to S.F. for meeting with regents The loss of two storage devices containing classified data at a University of California-run nuclear weapons laboratory is another blow to a university system trying to hang onto its half-century management of the lab. The devices have been missing for at least a week at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, and investigators say they are almost literally turning the lab upside-down in an effort to find them. They're even receiving help from a special team of investigators from Washington...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Two data storage devices containing classified information are missing from Los Alamos National Laboratory, officials said. Lab spokesman Kevin Roark refused to say Friday if the information could jeopardize national security. He said the "Classified Removable Electronic Media" were discovered missing from the Weapons Physics Directorate during an inventory check Wednesday. He refused to specify exactly what was missing, but said the items could be products such as CDs or floppy disks. A search was under way, and lab Director Peter Nanos said he would order a full inquiry into what happened. "In order to operate...

LOS ALAMOS Two items containing classified information are missing from Los Alamos National Laboratory, a lab spokesman said Friday. The items -- so-called "Classified Removable Electronic Media" — were discovered missing from the Weapons Physics Directorate during an inventory check Wednesday, lab spokesman Kevin Roark said. While Roark refused to say if the items contained information that could jeopardize national security if in the wrong hands, he said the CREM items could include products like compact flash disks, CDs and floppy disks. A search was under way Friday, and lab Director Peter Nanos said he would order a full inquiry...

<p>The Los Alamos National Laboratory, the nation's most important nuclear weapons lab, lost another hard disk drive filled with classified information, once again throwing a spotlight on lab officials who have been trying to re-emerge from years of scandals and mismangement.</p>

May 21, 2004 THE STATE Classified Disk Is Missing at Arms Lab By Peter Hong and Rebecca Trounson, Times Staff Writers Officials at the federal nuclear weapons research lab in Los Alamos, N.M., confirmed Thursday that a computer disk containing classified information was missing from the lab, but said the loss posed no threat to national security. Los Alamos National Laboratory spokesman Kevin Roark said he could not comment on the nature of the lost material, nor would he specify what was missing beyond a "classified removable electronic media," which could mean a CD or floppy disk. "I don't want...

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. -- Some classified information is missing at Los Alamos National Laboratory on Thursday. A lab spokesman said the data was supposed to have been destroyed and cannot jeopardize national security. The material is part of what the lab calls "Classified Removable Electronic Media." According to lab spokesman Kevin Roark, the information is still unaccounted for. The National Nuclear Security Administration said it is sending a review team to Los Alamos to look into the incident. The missing item is described as a recordable data storage and retrieval device. Roark said lab employees conducting a re-inventory of classified...

Chinese Diplomats Escorted Off N.M. Lab The Associated Press Tuesday, April 27, 2004; 4:12 PM LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - Two Chinese diplomats were escorted off restricted property at Los Alamos National Laboratory after they drove through an open security checkpoint, a lab spokesman said Tuesday. "This was not a major event," spokesman Kevin Roark said. The incident occurred Feb. 26 in an area where guards have stopped several people who mistakenly passed a temporary security booth that was set up on a formerly open road after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The diplomats, from the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles,...