LOS ALAMOS — Discrepancies in an annual inventory at Los Alamos National Laboratory have left lab officials unable to account for the whereabouts of 10 computer disks.
The lab announced in a statement Tuesday that nine floppy disks and one large-capacity storage disk could not be accounted for during a recent inventory.
"This situation is totally unacceptable," lab director Pete Nanos said Tuesday. "Security is one of our most important jobs. Obviously, we now must look deeper into the control of all sensitive information and solve these problems."
Lab officials have been interviewing workers who created the original information on the disks as well as the custodians of the disks to create detailed timelines and determine what the disks contained.
Officials with the lab's Nonproliferation and International Security Center said initial information indicates national security has not been jeopardized by the missing disks.
Los Alamos has suffered a string of embarrassing management failures in recent years that include reports of financial abuse by employees, two misplaced computer hard drives with secret nuclear-related material and the firing of two lab investigators who raised concerns about management.
In the latest incident, the first disk was reported missing Nov. 20. It was at least five years old and contained a single briefing that was marked classified. The lab said the briefing may not have been classified at all. Regardless of content, documents prepared on classified computers at Los Alamos must be marked as such.
The disk was last inventoried in February 2003. The lab said the owner of the disk recalls ordering the destruction of several such disks prior to moving to a new secure facility but there is no record confirming the disk was destroyed.
Another disk was reported missing Dec. 2. A lab investigation shows the disk was most likely destroyed in January 2002 but no receipt of its destruction could be found.
After learning of the two missing disks, the lab began a more intensive inventory of every classified computer data storage device in the secure facility. That inventory discovered eight more disks were unaccounted for, lab officials said.
They said they suspect those disks were all destroyed.
Nanos said the investigation has not uncovered evidence of willful or malicious intent by any lab workers.
Robert Foley, the University of California's vice president for lab management, has directed Nanos to conduct a thorough search for the missing disks and recommend immediate corrective action. The university manages the lab for the Department of Energy.
Foley also directed Los Alamos to immediately review security policies regarding computer data storage devices.
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