Los Alamos Director Suspends 19 For Security, Safety Violations

The director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico yesterday suspended 19 laboratory employees and threatened that they could be fired if two computer disks reported missing earlier this month were not found, according to the New York Times (see GSN, July 22).

Of the 19 employees, 15 have been placed on investigatory leave for security violations and four for safety violations, according to Director Peter Nanos and S. Robert Foley, the University of California official in charge of Los Alamos. The suspended employees have lost their security badges and can only return to the laboratory under escort, according to the Times.

Nanos said that 11 of the 19 employees had access to the location where the missing disks were kept. While each has denied having any knowledge of the incident, Nanos said that if the disks are not found, all 11 would be held responsible and would no longer be trusted with classified material (Sandra Blakeslee, New York Times, July 23).

The four nonsecurity suspensions were related to the separate investigation of an incident in which a Los Alamos intern suffered an eye injury from a laser, Associated Press reported (Barry Massey, AP/Yahoo!News, July 22). 

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