DOE leader eyes Test Site changes

Thursday, March 15, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

A plan introduced by a leader in the U.S. Energy Department would increase security at the Nevada Test Site and other field offices and focus on conducting smaller, more sophisticated experiments.

Air Force Gen. John Gordon, chief of the DOE's new National Nuclear Security Administration, on Wednesday announced a reorganization plan that would create two new associate administrators who would coordinate the DOE's programs and operations in the field.

Apparent security breaches and subsequent investigations at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico sparked the federal government to announce plans to secure its facilities and a year ago created the new division led by Gordon.

Gordon said he is concerned about safety and environmental issues at the DOE sites, where clear and direct lines of communication and coordination are necessary.

The move to smaller scale, more sophisticated experiments will aid security, allowing closer guarding of the research at the remote site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, he said.

The goal of the new plan puts the site in the role of an outdoor laboratory for smaller experiments, using electrical pulses and gas-fired guns to test parts of nuclear devices.

That keeps the Test Site as a prominent player in the nation's nuclear arsenal.

Weapons were tested above and below ground until 1992, when a moratorium went into effect. Since then government scientists have shifted their research to subcritical experiments -- testing nuclear weapons materials underground without allowing them to sustain a nuclear chain reaction.

But part of the Test Site's mission is to remain ready to resume full-scale testing at the president's order, spokesman Darwin Morgan said.

Gordon said his goal is to provide a safe and secure environment that will allow government scientists to team with university professors and other researchers in conducting experiments to help ensure the U.S. nuclear arsenal is ready.

The University of Nevada system, the Desert Research Institute and the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Research all have roles in the partnership.