Bodman Blames LANL Security Breach on “Human Error”

U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said “human error” was to blame for the latest security breach at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, rather than a systemic failure at the New Mexico nuclear weapons research site, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, June 15).

The matter was quickly identified and addressed, he wrote in a letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-Mich.).

“While serious, the incident in question was the result of a human error, not a failure of security systems,” according to Bodman.  “We have a robust system in place to report and investigate potential violations.  In my opinion this is a circumstance where those systems worked well.

Los Alamos in recent years has been plagued by security and safety problems, which forced the University of California to give up sole management of the facility. 

Earlier this year, a consultant for the laboratory’s management firm used an unsecured e-mail system to send a message containing top-secret nuclear weapons information, AP reported.  That violated Energy Department regulations, but the agency said it caused no harm.  Contractor Los Alamos National Security LLC, which is led by the university and Bechtel Corp., received an infraction.

“It is unacceptable,” said Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.).  “The American people expect that our most sensitive national security secrets are being protected with due diligence” (Jennifer Talhelm, Associated Press/Fresno Bee, June 16).

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