Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is supposed to be one of the government’s most secure weapons facilities, but when an in-house investigator wanted to test the sobriety of its support personnel, all he had to do was sign on as a truck driver for a firm that delivers supplies to the lab. He found he had instant access to much of the lab, and within a week he had made his first drug buy. The implications of his easy access to a high security facility may have been lost on the press. Last month’s news stories concentrated instead on the congressional debate over why an all-too-successful undercover drug operation~SnowStorm—was suddenly terminated in 1986. But one lab security official, David Leary, had more immediate worries on his mind. He told the House Energy and Commerce oversight subcommittee, during its six-hour hearing, that the agent’s “ability to move ahead so quickly was an ...
National Lab Briefs
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is supposed to be one of the government’s most secure weapons facilities, but when an in-house investigator wanted to test the sobriety of its support personnel, all he had to do was sign on as a truck driver for a firm that delivers supplies to the lab. He found he had instant access to much of the lab, and within a week he had made his first drug buy. The implications of his easy access to a high security facility may have been lost on the press.
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