WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman has fired the head of the National Nuclear Security Administration following a security breach at Los Alamos.
In a statement issued Thursday, NNSA Administrator Linton F. Brooks said, "The Department (of Energy) has just announced that Secretary Bodman has asked for my resignation because a number of management issues, the most recent of which was the recent security breach at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. I expect to formally submit my resignation to the president shortly and to leave within two (to) three weeks."
In November, the Department of Energy;s inspector general sharply criticized security at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico after hundreds of classified documents were removed from the building. The report said lab and federal officials failed to properly monitor security at the laboratory.
Bodman ordered the report after the classified documents were found by police during a drug investigation at a Los Alamos mobile home. Jessica Quintana, a former contractor at the lab who has been accused of mishandling the documents, said she took them home to meet a work deadline.
"One reason for forming NNSA was to prevent such management problems (as the Los Alamos incident) from occurring," Brooks said. "We have not yet done so in over five years. For much of that time I was in charge of NNSA. Therefore, the secretary believes that new leadership is needed."
"This is not a decision that I would have preferred, but it ... is based on the principle of accountability that should govern all public service," Brooks said. "I accept the decision. ..."
"I expect the president to name an acting administrator very shortly to serve until a permanent replacement can be selected and confirmed," Brooks said.
