Report finds flaws at Los Alamos lab

Security at Los Alamos National Laboratory was “seriously flawed” when a worker removed classified documents that were later found in her home during a drug bust, the Department of Energy’s inspector general has concluded.

In a number of key areas, security policies at the nuclear weapons lab were nonexistent, not followed or were applied inconsistently, according to Inspector General Gregory H. Friedman.

Internal controls and safeguards were not functioning as intended, and monitoring by the lab and federal officials was inadequate, he said. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said that the report outlined “some significant deficiencies and vulnerabilities” that the agency would quickly address.