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DATE=6/12/2000 TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT TITLE=MISSING NUCLEAR MATERIALS (L) NUMBER=2-263411 BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN DATELINE=LOS ANGELES INTERNET=YES CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S officials say a search is underway for nuclear secrets stored on computer devices at a U-S weapons laboratory. As we hear from Mike O'Sullivan in V-O-A's West Coast bureau, the officials say they have not uncovered evidence of espionage. TEXT: Officials of the U-S Department of Energy say the Federal Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the search for the missing data at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Monday, the New York Times website broke the story, saying the missing computer drives contained secret information used to respond to nuclear accidents and nuclear threats from terrorists. The newspaper said the devices also contain intelligence information on Russia's nuclear weapons program. The Los Alamos laboratory was evacuated in early May when it was threatened by forest fires. The material was reported missing June first. Energy Department officials have said security personnel remained at the base during the evacuation, and that structures containing sensitive nuclear secrets were not threatened by the fires. Monday, John Browne, the director of the research facility, called the disappearance an extremely serious matter, which he says officials are taking swift actions to deal with. The head of security for the laboratory says there is no evidence of espionage. A laboratory news release says officials are conducting an exhaustive search of computers, safes, containers and vaults, and interviewing staff members with access to the vault where the data was stored. The Los Alamos facility is the oldest and best known U-S nuclear research center, where scientists developed the first atomic bomb during the Second World War. Over the past year, however, the laboratory has been criticized for lax security after the firing of one of its scientists, Wen Ho Lee, for mishandling nuclear secrets. Originally suspected of passing nuclear secrets to China, Mr. Lee was never charged with espionage, but is awaiting trial on charges of illegally copying vast amounts of weapons data. He faces a possible term of life in prison if convicted. Officials have not ruled out the possibility that the missing computer data was misplaced during evacuation of the laboratory. They say it could also have been stolen, or inadvertently destroyed. (Signed) NEB/MO'S/KL 12-Jun-2000 20:34 PM EDT (13-Jun-2000 0034 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .