Los Alamos Shutdown Earns Lab Poor Marks

A U.S. Energy Department review criticizes the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico for missing deadlines during an extended shutdown caused by security and safety concerns, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, March 4).

The shutdown lasted as many as six months in some sections, while the weapons research facility instituted new procedures for training, storage of computer disks containing classified information and other areas, AP reported.

“High-risk operations are the ones in the weapons program, and those are the ones that were most affected by the work suspension,” said Los Alamos spokesman Jim Danneskiold.

The laboratory delivered half of the expected “surveillance components,” 69 percent of neutron tube targets, 82 percent of packing materials and 98 percent of dynamic experimentation products, according to AP (Associated Press, March 15).

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