Recovered Los Alamos hard drives to be examined

June 17, 2000
Web posted at: 3:05 p.m. EDT (1905 GMT)

In this story: Drives found in 'X Division' No assurances drives remained in lab Univ. of California runs facility RELATED STORIES, SITES

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two computer hard drives containing sensitive nuclear weapons data from the Los Alamos National Laboratory will be examined electronically Saturday to determine absolutely whether they are those that were missing.

The examination also will reveal whether the computer drives -- each about the size of a deck of playing cards -- have been tampered with, said an official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

VIDEO CNN's Gene Randall questions the director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory about issues surrounding the loss and recovery of key computer drives. (June 17) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD National security

The Energy Department's admission that the two drives were missing early this week prompted a new round of congressional hearings into security at the nation's top nuclear laboratory, where the first atomic bomb was constructed in 1945.

The drives were found on Friday behind a copying machine in a secure area of the laboratory that had previously been searched, sources told CNN. It was not known whether the drives ever left the building.

Despite their safe recovery, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said Friday afternoon he would continue an investigation into the matter, and he promised disciplinary action would result.

Drives found in 'X Division'

The drives were found in the so-called "X Division," a closely guarded section of the Los Alamos facility. They contained details of how to dismantle numerous nuclear weapons from U.S. and other nations' arsenals. The information is used by the Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST), which is trained to respond to nuclear accidents or terrorism.

The drives have been missing since at least May 7, when Los Alamos employees prepared to evacuate the facility due to wildfires in the surrounding New Mexico countryside.

The FBI and Energy Department conducted the investigation into their disappearance, and NEST members at Los Alamos have been given polygraph tests.

According to Justice Department sources, the FBI had 58 agents on-scene at Los Alamos on Friday, and the agency was treating the area in which the drives were located as a crime scene. The drives were to be checked later Friday through a series of electronic and forensics tests to determine if they had in any way been compromised.

No assurances drives remained in lab

The sources said they had no assurances that the drives had not been taken off laboratory premises in the time they were missing.

President Bill Clinton said earlier Friday that it remains "not clear" whether national security has been jeopardized by the drives' absence. Clinton said it is important "to get to the bottom" of what happened.

"It's a serious issue, and I think what we ought to do is see the investigation through and see where the facts lead us," he said during an interview on NBC's "Today Show."

In addition to the FBI/Energy probe, former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker, a Republican, and former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton, a Democrat, are taking an "independent look" at the issue.

"We need to do what we can to find out what happened, whether there was a security breach and if so, how we can change it so that it will never happen again," Clinton said.

The revelations of missing nuclear secrets prompted new hearings on security procedures at Los Alamos in both houses of Congress this week. Richardson, whose department has oversight of the laboratory, has come in for particularly harsh criticism -- especially after he skipped a Senate hearing into the matter Wednesday.

Richardson said he would appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee next week, when "we will have more answers" about the missing data.

Univ. of California runs facility

The Los Alamos facility is operated by the University of California. Several members of the House Commerce Committee sent Richardson a letter Friday calling for the department to terminate the lab's operating contract with the university.

The letter noted that "virtually every loss of weapons information at Los Alamos has involved lab employees," and that the employees were most likely responsible for the misplaced hard drives.

"It is time for the department to take charge of the Los Alamos National Laboratory," the members wrote. "We believe that it is no longer in the 'best interests of the government' to continue with the University of California as the management and operating contractor."

CNN's Dana Bash, John King and Terry Frieden contributed to this report.

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Los Alamos National Laboratory
Department of Energy
House Committee on Commerce: 106th Congress
University of California, Berkeley
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Atomic Energy Act and Related Legislation
Scientific Freedom and National Security

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