| SRS alerted to security breach AIKEN - Classified operations involving removable electronic media at Savannah River Site and all Department of Energy sites across the country will be halted indefinitely Monday because of a security breach at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, officials announced Friday. The order from Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham comes after a July 7 incident at Los Alamos when it was discovered that two Zip disks containing classified information were lost, a DOE news release stated. The lab is still searching more than 2,000 safes and vaults looking for the disks. On Monday, SRS and other DOE sites will have to conduct a complete physical inventory of removable electronic media and will have to conduct weekly checks from thereafter. They also will have to keep disks and other removable memory containing items in "approved" restricted repositories. "These procedures are designed to guarantee a complete inventory of our classified electronic holdings and make certain that specific individuals can be held responsible and accountable for future problems," Mr. Abraham said in a statement. The restriction on classified work won't be lifted until DOE officials are satisfied that safeguards are in place, DOE's release states. Mr. Abraham already made a call for increased security earlier this year on a trip to Aiken. On his May visit, the secretary called for increased cyber-security, such as computers without hard drives. SRS already has such computers, and security analysts have said the site is among DOE's most secure facilities. The Savannah River National Laboratory also keeps hard drives in separate rooms from computers, making it almost impossible to download and take information out of secure locations. It uses eye scanners to identify workers with access to classified labs. Los Alamos, on the other hand, was embroiled in scandal in 1999 and 2000 when scientist Wen Ho Lee was arrested and jailed on 58 charges of illegally downloading nuclear secrets. He later pleaded guilty of one count of mishandling weapons secrets. Nuclear watchdog Tom Clements of Greenpeace said the decision to halt classified work was "alarming." "That sure indicates a serious, complexwide problem," Mr. Clements said.
Reach Josh Gelinas at (803) 648-1395, ext. 113, or josh.gelinas@augustachronicle.com.
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