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United States: Los Alamos Investigation Could Trigger U.S. Brain Drain The investigation into theft and fraud charges at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico could result in “a huge national security problem” if it triggered the departure of the facility’s scientists, a top U.S. nuclear official said yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 4). “What’s irreplaceable is what’s in the minds of the people,” said Linton Brooks, acting head of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Energy Department agency responsible for nuclear weapon design and maintenance. He added that he is worried about the effect the investigation is having on the morale of Los Alamos scientists. Many of them could choose to retire or work at another facility, which would result in “a huge national security problem if we don’t get this behind us,” Brooks said (Dan Stober, San Jose Mercury News, Feb. 28). Because of the number of theft and fraud reports at Los Alamos, the Energy Department is considering whether to allow other institutions to compete with the University of California to manage the facility, according to the Associated Press. Such a change in management, however, could harm the facility’s national security work, a university official said Wednesday. The most experienced Los Alamos scientists are close to retirement age and might choose to leave if there were a change in management, said Bruce Darling, a senior university official, told the House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee. “Turning over the contract on a regular basis creates a real threat of disruption to our nation’s security,” Darling said. While Los Alamos did appear to suffer from a lack of financial controls, there are no signs that weapons secrets were lost or that national security was compromised, Energy Inspector General Gregory Friedman told the subcommittee. That cannot be guaranteed, however, with 400 of the facility’s computers having been stolen over three years, he said (Robert Gehrke, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, Feb. 27).
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