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Security at U.S. Weapons Laboratories

  • Latest Los Alamos Security Debacle Prompts Hearings on DOE
    Arms Control Today
    July 1, 2000

    FOLLOWING THE LOSS of sensitive nuclear weapons information from a Los Alamos National Laboratory vault, Congress held a series of hearings in June on the Department of Energy's (DOE) security failings. After being lambasted in both the Senate and the House for his role in the debacle, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson tasked General John Gordon, recently confirmed as head of the new National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), to conduct a "top-to-bottom review" of the nation's nuclear laboratories. The current controversy is the latest in a string of security mishaps at the nuclear laboratories. Key lawmakers have indicated that if DOE's apparent security failings are not rectified, they may attempt to remove the nuclear weapons complex from DOE. (Continue)
  • New DOE Nuclear Security Organization Begins Work
    Arms Control Today
    April 1, 2000

    THE CONTROVERSIAL NATIONAL Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) began operation March 1, the congressionally mandated deadline for the organization's launch. The following day, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that President Clinton will nominate Air Force General John Gordon, currently deputy director of the CIA, to serve in the dual capacity of NNSA director and undersecretary of energy for nuclear security. Under the terms of its implementing legislation, the NNSA will carry out the national security responsibilities of the Department of Energy (DOE), including oversight of the laboratories, factories, and test facilities that make up the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. (Continue)
  • Congress Approves DOE Reorganization; Clinton Leaves Control With Energy Secretary
    Arms Control Today
    September 1, 1999

    UNWILLING TO VETO the fiscal year 2000 defense authorization bill, President Clinton approved the partial separation of the nation's nuclear weapons complex from the Department of Energy (DOE) on October 5, but infuriated congressional advocates of the reorganization by transferring control of the new National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) back to Energy Secretary Bill Richardson. Proposed in the wake of allegations of Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons labs, the reorganization called for in the defense bill would have provided the new nuclear agency substantial independence from DOE in establishing its own safety, security, environmental and counterintelligence policies, contrary to the administration's preference. (Continue)
  • 'Rudman Report' Adds Fuel to DOE Reorganization Fire
    Arms Control Today
    June 1, 1999

    SPURRED BY THE COX Report's allegations of Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons labs and a blistering report by a high-level investigative panel that concluded the Department of Energy (DOE) is incapable of reforming itself, both the House of Representatives and the Senate are considering legislation that would create a semi-autonomous agency within DOE to manage the nation's nuclear weapons complex. As of late June, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson continued to express strong opposition to any restructuring plan that called for the creation of a separate entity either within or outside his department. (Continue)
  • Science at Its Best, Security at Its Worst
    Arms Control Today
    June 1, 1999

    Long the subject of reform proposals, the Department of Energy (DOE), which was created in 1977 by merging the Atomic Energy Commission with several other energy-related agencies, may finally be headed for reorganization in the wake of allegations of widespread nuclear espionage at U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories. According to a report released in May by a select congressional committee chaired by Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA), the Energy Department's security and counterintelligence apparatus is completely inadequate, making it possible for China to acquire classified information on seven types of U.S. nuclear warheads. (Continue)
  • Cox Panel Charges China With Extensive Nuclear Espionage
    Arms Control Today
    April 1, 1999

    THE UNITED STATES has been the victim of a sustained Chinese espionage campaign alleged to have acquired classified information on seven types of U.S. thermonuclear weapons, a bipartisan select committee from the House of Representatives reported May 25. Led by Representative Christopher Cox (R-CA), the panel of five Republicans and four Democrats released a 900-plus page declassified version of its report charging extensive—and probably ongoing—penetration of U.S. nuclear weapons labs by Chinese agents, indications that U.S. weapons technology may be used in China's strategic modernization plans, and widespread Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. dual-use technology through legal and illegal means. (Continue)
  • Hyping Chinese Espionage
    Arms Control Today
    April 1, 1999