Sandia security chief is asked to resign

ALBUQUERQUE, June 25 (UPI) -- The chief of security at Sandia National Laboratories, David Nokes, has retired at the request of Sandia President C. Paul Robinson.

The action came in the wake of congressional criticism of the lab's nuclear weapons security

Robinson, in March, announced some "disturbing concerns" about the Sandia's security, including one incident in which two guards were found sleeping on duty.

A new government report released this week by the General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, said there's been little improvement in security at the national laboratories, including Sandia and Los Alamos.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, a vocal critic of national laboratory security, told the Albuquerque Journal terrorists "must be licking their chops" because "our nuclear secrets are not safe."

Grassley said "The labs contain some of the most sensitive and sought after technology in the world today. This stuff should be locked up tight like at Fort Knox and guarded night and day by alert sentries."