News

USIS Washington 
File

07 July 1999

CONGRESSMEN CRITICAL OF SECURITY AT CALIFORNIA NUCLEAR WEAPONS LAB

(Livermore National Laboratory focus of investigation)  (870)

Washington -- U.S. House of Representatives Commerce Committee
Chairman Tom Bliley and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee
Chairman Fred Upton left a classified briefing seriously concerned
about the results of a recent security inspection carried out at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, according to a committee press
release issued 2 July 1999.

In the joint press release, Bliley and Upton said the inspection,
carried out by the Department of Energy's (DOE) chief security
inspector at the nuclear weapons lab in May 1999, found "serious
deficiencies that warrant prompt corrective action by Livermore in the
areas of computer security, foreign visitor controls and clearances,
and protection of nuclear materials." The congressmen also express
doubts about the quality of the day-to-day management and oversight of
security matters by the laboratory and its immediate DOE overseers, as
well as the effectiveness of reforms and heightened security measures
recently announced by the Clinton Administration.

The congressmen said the inspection found that foreign nationals who
do work for the lab but who reside in their native countries had
unrestricted and unmonitored remote dial-up access to Livermore's
entire unclassified computer server. The inspection, they said, also
found that these foreign nationals had not received background checks
or the appropriate clearances.

"The American people should know that their nuclear secrets are not
yet safe and secure," Bliley and Upton conclude in the press release,
and they promise to "continue to keep the pressure on the Department
(DOE) and its labs to implement the fundamental management and
organizational changes necessary to achieve lasting security reforms."

Following is the text of the press release:

(begin text)

Bliley, Upton React to Briefing on Livermore Security Inspection

Washington (July 2) - Chairman Tom Bliley (R-VA), and Oversight and
Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) delivered the
following joint statement today, after the Subcommittee's classified
briefing last evening on the results of DOE's recent comprehensive
security inspection at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory:

"Yesterday, Members of the Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on
Oversight and Investigations received a detailed, classified briefing
from the Department of Energy's chief security inspector, Mr. Glenn
Podonsky, on the results of his team's recent comprehensive security
inspection at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory -- one of the
Department's three nuclear weapon labs. The briefing -- which had been
delayed repeatedly by Secretary Richardson without any legitimate
basis -- follows several Committee oversight hearings on the state of
security at the Department's nuclear weapons complex, and is part of
the Committee's plan, announced in March, to conduct a lab-by-lab
review of the key sites to ensure that security reforms are being
effectively implemented. The briefing provided Members with an
opportunity to question the relevant laboratory and Department program
officials about the recent inspection findings and their plans for
reform.

"The inspection found serious deficiencies that warrant prompt
corrective action by Livermore in the areas of computer security,
foreign visitor controls and clearances, and protection of nuclear
materials. The inspection results also raise questions about the
quality of the day-to-day management and oversight of security matters
by the laboratory and its immediate Department overseers, who appear
to be failing to detect some of these deficiencies on their own when
conducting their mandated security assessments and evaluations. It
should not take an inspection by the Department's independent
oversight office to find some of these serious security problems, and
we question why these problems were not uncovered and disclosed in the
1998 Department field office security survey or the February 1999
Report to the President on the Status of Safeguards and Security at
the Department's Nuclear Weapon Sites.

"We also are troubled by the formal response to some of the
inspector's findings by the laboratory and Department program
officials. For example, the inspection found that foreign nationals
who do work for the lab but who reside in their native countries had
unrestricted and unmonitored remote dial-up access to Livermore's
entire unclassified server, which contains highly sensitive -- and,
possibly, mishandled classified -- nuclear information. The inspection
also found that these foreign nationals had not received background
checks or the appropriate clearances. When questioned about these
findings, the official laboratory and Department response was that
Department policy did not require any restrictions on, or background
checks, for foreign nationals that do not actually visit or reside at
the labs -- a response that may or may not be technically correct, but
nonetheless defies common sense.

"The findings of this inspection -- which was conducted principally in
May of this year -- also demonstrate that the Administration's
announced reforms and heightened security measures have not yet
achieved the success that Secretary Richardson has repeatedly told the
American public they already have. The American people should know
that their nuclear secrets are not yet safe and secure, but that the
Committee will continue to keep the pressure on the Department and its
labs to implement the fundamental management and organizational
changes necessary to achieve lasting security reforms. Nuclear
security is a top oversight priority for us, and we plan to hold
additional hearings on this topic throughout the summer."

(end text)