[ISN] Brooks ousted as head of NNSA

alerts@private

http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/jan/04/brooks-ousted-head-nnsa/

By H. Josef Hebert
Associated Press
January 4, 2007

WASHINGTON Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman today dismissed the chief of 
the country's nuclear weapons program because of security breakdowns at 
the Los Alamos laboratory in New Mexico and other facilities.

Linton Brooks will submit his resignation this month as head of the 
National Nuclear Security Administration, the department said.

Bodman said the nuclear agency under Brooks, a former ambassador and 
arms control negotiator, had not adequately corrected security problems. 
"I have decided it is time for new leadership at the NNSA," Bodman said.

Brooks was reprimanded in June for failing to report to Bodman a 
security breach of computers at an agency facility in Albuquerque that 
resulted in the theft of files containing Social Security numbers and 
other personal data for 1,500 workers.

Last fall, security at Los Alamos came into question anew. During a drug 
raid, authorities found classified nuclear-related documents at the home 
of a former lab employee with top secret clearance.

That security breach was especially troubling, the department's internal 
watchdog said, because tens of millions of dollars had been spent to 
upgrade computer security at Los Alamos. The lab is part of the nuclear 
weapons complex that Brooks' agency oversees.

"These management and security issues can have serious implications for 
the security of the United States," Bodman in a statement announcing 
Brooks' departure.

While the agency's management "has done its best to address these 
concerns, I do not believe that progress in correcting these issues has 
been adequate," Bodman said.

"Therefore, and after careful consideration, I have decided that it is 
time for new leadership at the NNSA," said Bodman "Ambassador Brooks 
will tender his resignation to the president and depart later this 
month."

Bodman said an acting head of the agency will be named soon.

_____________________________
Subscribe to InfoSec News
http://www.infosecnews.org/mailman/listinfo/isn