Senator blasts lack of Los Alamos security

Thursday, June 22, 2000 | 1:40 a.m.

Sen. Richard Bryan says the lax security at the Los Alamos National Laboratory should result in terminations. But he stopped short of joining colleagues in calling for Energy Secretary Bill Richardson's resignation.

Bryan, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed concern over the lack of security that led to the disappearance of two computer disk drives containing sensitive nuclear weapons material.

The Nevada Democrat said it's unclear whether the disks left the laboratory, or whether they might have been compromised in some way.

Bryan said he is satisfied with the scope of Energy Department and FBI investigations into the disappearance.

The disks were missing for weeks before they suddenly surfaced behind a copy machine.

Bryan and other senators expressed disbelief at Wednesday's hearing that 26 lab workers had the ability to enter the vault and remove items without having to sign in.

Although some of the senators called on Richardson to resign, Bryan was more restrained in his criticism of the energy secretary.

"We would all agree the responsibility lies with the top person in the organization, but in my judgment, you were badly served by some of your subordinates," Bryan told Richardson.

Bryan said it was particularly troubling that it was 24 days before the director of the Los Alamos lab was notified of the missing disks, and another day before Richardson received word.

"The failure to notify you is so inexcusable that people need to be held accountable," Bryan said. "They need to be terminated, they need to be reassigned, but somebody clearly hasn't gotten the message."

Bryan said afterward that Richardson should be judged by how he responds to the crisis.

"If he cleans house, and I think he should, that's all one can expect from the man at the top," Bryan told a Las Vegas newspaper.