Agency pushing Los Alamos to resume projects too soon, critics say

An independent oversight agency is pushing Los Alamos National Laboratory to resume risky projects before officials can adequately address security gaps exposed last month, watchdog group investigators charged Wednesday.

Investigators from the Project on Government Oversight alleged that the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is "shirking its duty" by offering to help the National Nuclear Security Administration relax the precautions Los Alamos must take before continuing work posing significant safety risks.

The safety board, established by Congress in 1988 to oversee safety at government nuclear installations, is emphasizing efficiency over the well-being of lab employees and people living near the New Mexico facility, the nonprofit organization claimed in a press statement.

In late July, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham ordered Los Alamos to halt riskier projects -- including ones posing immediate safety threats and ones entailing computer disks, hard drives or other "controlled removable electronic media" housing classified information -- pending a review of security procedures. The order came after a lab scientist sustained an eye injury during a laser experiment and managers lost track of two computer discs containing classified information.

An Aug. 14 e-mail from NNSA Administrator Linton Brooks to Pete Nanos, the lab's director, and several other senior officials, recounted a meeting where board members worried about the lab's high threshold for resuming classified work. "The board is concerned that Los Alamos procedures for start-up are too demanding and call for fixing all existing problems," Brooks wrote in the e-mail, obtained and publicized by POGO.

"They say that with the current procedures, it could be months before Los Alamos is back in business, and they see that as unacceptable," Brooks continued. "The board also said that we might run into snags (procedures, authorization) in starting up. They said they could and would be willing to help."

Peter Stockton, a senior investigator at POGO, said the e-mail implies that the board is pressuring NNSA to scale back on safety precautions, despite the substantial weaknesses underscored by last month's incidents. "It's kind of a veiled suggestion," he said of the e-mail.

Security lapses persist at the New Mexico nuclear facility in part because there's "no incentive to do the right thing," Stockton said. Linton's e-mail has worried lab employees and citizens in nearby communities, he added. "It's having an effect out there," he said. "That's not the way top managers are supposed to be handling things."

POGO leaders called on Brooks to publicly pledge that he won't bow to pressure from the board. "The major problem here, and the shocking thing about this, is that Brooks should have said [in his e-mail]: 'We aren't going to let this place start up until it is safe,'" Stockton argued.

But Brooks doesn't plan on making any public statements about his August meeting with the board, said Bryan Wilkes, an NNSA spokesman. The e-mail leaked by POGO shouldn't be "left to a third party to interpret," he said. "The e-mail is pretty clear."

In response to the watchdog group's allegations, John Conway, chairman of the board, said he is concerned about safety at the New Mexico facility. Board members are concerned about "a number of security and safety inadequacies exist at Los Alamos, which will require extended time to correct," he said in a statement responding to the criticisms. "The board has been assured that the laboratory will resume operation in stages to ensure any high priority safety items . . . will not be unduly delayed."

Board members recently assigned a second "seasoned" representative to help Los Alamos "assure that work will be resumed safely," Conway stated. The move reflects the "importance the board attributes to the safe operation" of the lab, he noted.

Los Alamos spokesman Kevin Roark declined to comment on Brooks' e-mail, but said the lab is hoping to review safety procedures and resume work on all projects in October. The reviews will entail 42 different high-risk activities at the lab, spokeswoman Kathy DeLucas said.

Lab managers will complete risk analyses in the 42 areas, and will present the results, as well as plans for closing any security gaps, to a senior executive board at the lab and the facility's director. Some of the plans will require additional approval from Energy Department officials.

Managers overseeing four of the high risk areas have already completed reviews and plans for mitigating risk, DeLucas said, marking a "huge improvement."