DATE=6/16/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=NUKE DISKS FOUND (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=263565
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
CONTENT=
Intro: U-S officials say two missing computer
hard drives containing nuclear secrets have been
found at the laboratory where they disappeared
six weeks ago. Investigators evaluating the
devices to see if they are authentic. From V-O-
A's West Coast bureau, Mike O'Sullivan has more.
Text: U-S Energy Secretary Bill Richardson says the
two computer drives were found in a secure area of the
Los Alamos National Laboratory, but that they were
outside the vault where they were previously kept.
The disks contain weapons data on U-S, Russian and
other nuclear systems. The information is used by the
U-S government's Nuclear Emergency Search Team, which
is responsible for disarming devices in nuclear
emergencies, such as a terrorist incident.
News reports quote officials as saying the disks were
found behind a photo-copy machine in an area that had
been searched earlier. Officials have not ruled out
the possibility that the disks were removed from the
lab and later returned. Each disk is the size of a
deck of cards and is easily transported.
A statement by the Energy Department Friday said the
area where the disks were found is being treated as a
crime scene. The statement also said there will be
disciplinary actions stemming from the incident.
/// rest opt ///
The loss was first discovered May 7th, but lab workers
did not notify their superiors at the Energy
Department in Washington for more than three weeks,
until May 31st. Public release of the information
this week caused a furor in Washington. A
congressional oversight committee Friday called the
disappearance a "potentially devastating compromise"
of national security.
The Los Alamos lab was evacuated in early May as a
raging wildfire approached. Security personnel
remained in place, and there was speculation the disks
were misplaced as workers fled the facility.
The laboratory has been criticized the past year,
however, for lax security. A former lab scientist,
Wen Ho Lee, was charged in December with 59 counts of
mishandling classified material and he faces a
possible life sentence if convicted. (Signed)
NEB/PT
16-Jun-2000 19:38 PM EDT (16-Jun-2000 2338 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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