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United States: Energy Report Says Los Alamos Officials Hid Problems A review by the Energy Department’s inspector general has concluded that senior officials at Los Alamos National Laboratory “obscured serious property management and security problems” during an investigation of fraud and theft at the nuclear weapons research facility in New Mexico, Energy Daily reported Friday (see GSN, Jan. 21). The report said laboratory management discouraged staff members from discussing or revealing the alleged improprieties. Inspector General Gregory Friedman also said there was no clear reason why the laboratory had fired two former law enforcement officials who had been brought in to investigate missing money. The dismissal of Glenn Walp and Steven Doran was “incomprehensible,” according to the report. “These events raise doubt about Los Alamos’ commitment to solving noted problems, had the potential to have a chilling effect on employees who may have been willing to speak out on matters of concern, and were inconsistent with laboratory and University of California obligations under its contract with the Department of Energy,” the report said. The report did not support allegations, however, that “laboratory management deliberately hid criminal activity” (George Lobsenz, Energy Daily, Jan. 31). Laboratory staff members were responsible for at least $1.5 million in missing or stolen government property and management reportedly told employees to “resist the temptation to spill your guts” about the situation, the Los Angeles Times reported (Vartabedian/Trounson, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 31). The report also said officials were poor property managers, charging the Los Alamos leadership with a “substantial degree of dysfunction” in this area, the University of California’s Daily Californian reported. Los Alamos’ equipment was delivered to “open spaces with little or no security,” according to the report (Kin-Mai Cutler, Daily Californian, Feb. 3). Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham will most likely decide by April whether the University of California will continue to operate the national laboratory system, the Times reported (Vartabedian/Trounson, Los Angeles Times).
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