GAO Report on Los Alamos Security Is Too Vague (Sen. Pete Domenici)
July 17th, 2008
This week, The General Accountability Office (GAO) issued the findings of its study on security at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
I am pleased the study noted several security improvements that demonstrate the lab management’s commitment to maintaining LANL’s defenses, including:
Reduction of Classified Removable Electronic Media (CREM) from 87,000 in 2003 to 4,300 in 2008;
- Reduction of classified parts by 30,000 between February 2007 and March 2008. This work is ongoing;
- Consolidation of classified documents in a central library;
- Reduction of nuclear facility storage from 19 in 2000 to 11 in 2006, on track with its goal of only six sites by 2016;
- Integration of a Red Network to protect almost the entire lab site by providing secure transmission of classified data; and
- An expanded security perimeter.
Despite acknowledging the lab’s significant improvements, the report goes on to recommend the development of a long-term sustainable security plan without laying out the specifics LANL needs to effectively act upon this recommendation.
It goes on to recommend greater financial incentives to encourage LANL’s security performance, but fails to specify the parameters, such as less incentives on cleanup, national security mission, general science, or even an increased fee for LANL overall.
In light of this study’s one-size-fits-all suggestions, I do not expect the follow-on study to explore moving specific missions out of LANL to provide any cost-effective remedies. I believe—as I always have—that Congress, the DOE and NNSA must support our national labs by providing the partnership and resources they need to maintain the highest security levels.
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