Subj: FW: Los Almos National Laboratory Computer Data Vanishes!!
Date: 6/12/00 6:09:19 PM Pacific Daylight Time

You will LOVE this one.....I remember what you were saying at the time.
What a good way to get the rest of the "secrets" to the Chinese, eh? Ah, ya gotta
love their stupidity in thinking we don't notice!........Love ya.........Julie

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From:
Sent: Tuesday, June 13, 2000 10:58 AM
Subject: Los Almos National Laboratory Computer Data Vanishes!!

>
> Probe begins as computer data vanishes from computer vault
> Associated Press
> WASHINGTON, June 12 â?" Computer-held nuclear secrets stored in a vault at the
> Los Alamos National Laboratory have disappeared, prompting a top-level
> investigation, laboratory and Energy Department officials disclosed Monday.
>
> STORY CONTINUES BELOW
>
> 'This is an extremely serious matter, and we are taking swift actions to
> deal with it.'
> John Browne
> Los Alamos weapons-lab director
>
> OFFICIALS LEARNED of the missing secrets and other sensitive material on June
> 1 and have not ruled out the possibility that the missing data are related to
> the forest fire that threatened the lab and forced its evacuation last month.
> "This is an extremely serious matter, and we are taking swift actions to deal
> with it," said John Browne, director of the federal weapons research lab in
> New Mexico. The laboratory was embroiled in an espionage controversy
> involving a former lab scientists for much of last year.
>
> The scientist, Wen Ho Lee, was arrested in December for misuse of secret
> nuclear data and awaits trial. Although under investigation for three years
> in connection with the alleged loss of U.S. nuclear secrets to China, Lee has
> not been charged with espionage.
>
> Ed Curran, director of the Energy Department's counterintelligence office,
> said there is no indication espionage is involved in the latest
> disappearance.
>
> INTENSIVE SEARCH
> The secret material was contained in hard drives and discs in containers in a
> vault in Los Alamos' most highly classified area, the so-called "X Division,"
> where designers of nuclear weapons do their work. Sources said the empty
> containers were found inside the vault.
>
> The nuclear-armed planet
>
> MSNBC Interactive
>
> â?¢ Click here to see nuclear stockpiles around the world (requires Flash
> plugin)
>
>
>
>
>
> Additional details about the nuclear material was not immediately available.
>
> "Officials are conducting an exhaustive search of computers, safes,
> containers and vaults and have interviewed all staff members who had access
> to the vault where the media (nuclear materials) were stored," the laboratory
> said in a news release.
>
> When the loss was discovered, the Energy Department's new security chief,
> retired Air Force Gen. Eugene Habiger, went to Los Alamos and directed an
> intensive search of but did not find the material, said officials who spoke
> on condition they would not be identified further.
>
> The possibility has not been ruled out that the material disappeared during
> the turmoil that surrounded the evacuation of the Los Alamos laboratory, when
> the facilities were threatened by the massive wild fire that destroyed much
> of the community of Los Alamos and parts of the lab itself.
>
> The disappearance of the documents also was being investigated by the FBI and
> the University of California, Berkeley, which manages the weapons laboratory
> for the Energy Department.
>
> Browne said in a statement that â??certain and appropriateâ?? disciplinary
> action would be taken â??if the inquiry reveals that individuals did not
> fulfill their responsibilitiesâ?? in safeguarding the material.
>
> HAMPERED BY FIRE
> Itâ??s not clear when the material was first discovered missing, although the
> incident was reported to the Energy Department on June 1.
>
> The investigation and search for the material has become more difficult
> because many of the labâ??s scientists left the area last month because of the
> wild fires that swept the region. The lab itself was evacuated May 10 for
> five days. Officials repeatedly have said that all nuclear material was
> safeguarded and not threatened by the fires.
>
> â??Our inquiry has been conducted during a period in which employees are still
> recovering from the effects of a major emergency disaster,â?? Habiger said in a
> statement. â??Part of the laboratoryâ??s rigorous process for resuming
> operations has included a look at the physical integrity of all its buildings
> and security systems.â??
>
> Habiger could not be reached for comment.
>