Missing Keys At U.S. Nuke Labs

["Gerry Blackwood" <gpblackwood@justice.com>]

Missing Keys At U.S. Nuke Labs

WASHINGTON, Jan. 1, 2004



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/01/national/printable591068.shtml





The Energy Department is conducting a widespread review

of security at America's nuclear weapons laboratories

after reports of hundreds of missing keys, some of

which could allow access to sensitive areas. 



Sources tell CBS News that lock and key experts will

begin visiting all U.S. nuclear labs next month to

assess the problem of missing keys and apparent

security lapses, reports CBS News Correspondent Sharyl

Attkisson. 



The review follows reports last summer that Oak Ridge

National Laboratory had reported "a number" of keys

missing. 



In fact, 200 keys were missing. 



Oak Ridge, located in Tennessee, was part of the

Manhattan Project where uranium was processed for the

first atomic bomb. Also known by its World War II code

name "Y-12", it's considered the Fort Knox of highly

enriched uranium — the kind terrorists could use for a

devastating bomb. 



Some of the missing keys, according to one source,

"provide possible access to sensitive areas" at Oak

Ridge. 



At Sandia National Labs in New Mexico, a set of master

keys went missing for more than a week, including keys

that could get someone as far as the glass doors

leading to the nuclear reactors. At the time, nobody

bothered to change the locks or report the security

breach as required. 



Someone also lost track of master keys at Lawrence

Livermore Lab. 



The Energy Department's Inspector General investigated

Livermore and recently determined the lab "did not

immediately recognize the significant security

implications … did not report the security incidents

within the required timeframes," and "did not

immediately assess the potential security risks." 



During the Inspector General's review, Livermore

officials admitted five more master keys were missing,

some for years. The Inspector General says it will cost

$1.7 million dollars to replace 100,000 locks at

Livermore alone. The lab claims it won't cost nearly

that much. 



In response to the reports, the Energy Department is

launching a "lock and key inventory" to try to pinpoint

the extent of the security breach. Sources say it will

be a "top to bottom review" at all the nation's nuclear

weapons labs. 



The missing keys are only the latest blow to confidence

in security at U.S. nuclear weapons labs. 



The Energy Department announced last year it would take

competitive bids for the contract to run Los Alamos

National Laboratory for the first time in the nuclear

weapons lab's history, after high-profile management

breakdowns shook confidence in current management. 



The University of California has managed the lab since

it was the birthplace of the atom bomb six decades ago. 



The review of the contract was prompted after reports

of financial abuse by several employees, equipment that

was missing or unaccounted for, and the firing of two

lab investigators who raised concerns about porous

management. 



Two lab employees used lab money to buy hunting

equipment, sunglasses, television sets, gas barbecues

and other merchandise apparently unrelated to their

jobs. Another used a lab charge card to try to purchase

a customized Ford Mustang. 



The University of California made sweeping changes,

firing or reassigning several top lab managers and

instituting a series of reforms. 



But the latest problems at Los Alamos come in the wake

of the 1999 investigation into Lee, a Taiwanese-born

scientist who was imprisoned for nine months while

under investigation. He was never charged with spying. 



The next year, two computer hard drives with secret

nuclear-related material disappeared, only to turn up

later behind a copy machine.



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