Network Computing is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

UK Scientist to Los Alamos: Lock Up!

The troubled Los Alamos National Laboratory has called in a U.K. scientist to boost its security standards following the nuclear research sites desperate attempts to locate two missing storage devices.

The New Mexico facility, which is the birthplace of the atom bomb, hit the headlines when two disks containing classified information were reported missing during a routine inventory (see Los Alamos Searches for Lost Media and Los Alamos Lessons Loom Large).

Malcolm Jones, a physicist and safety expert at the U.K.’s Atomic Weapons Establishment addressed Los Alamos’s 7,500 employees in an attempt to bolster morale following weeks of intense scrutiny from politicians and the media.

Jones highlighted the potential security hazards at a top secret research site. Staff who perceive security as "boring" came in for particular criticism, with Jones urging Los Alamos management to engage employees in developing safety processes. [Ed. note: OK, kids! Let's make Security Time FunTime!]

Rather than being a mundane and tedious activity, Jones called on lab personnel to see safety as a technology challenge.

  • 1