February 11, 2015

Allegations Concerning Information Protection at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a part of the National Nuclear Security Administration, executes missions affecting national priorities involving nuclear security, intelligence, defense, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism.  LANL is managed and operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS), and Federal oversight is provided by the Los Alamos Site Office.  The Department of Energy’s Office of Inspector General received a complaint alleging multiple problems with the LANL classification program. 

We substantiated certain allegations related to LANL's classification program.  In particular, we determined that LANL's Classification Officer had not always adequately protected and controlled classified information resulting in the misclassification and improper disclosure of sensitive, national security information.   Our examination of incident reports and other available evidence revealed six incidents in which LANL documents were misclassified.  Further, as alleged and despite acknowledging that they had received complaints from employees, we found that LANS management officials had not taken action to investigate or resolve alleged violations by the LANL Classification Officer. 

The issues we identified in this report occurred, in part, due to lack of oversight by LANS management and the cognizant Federal manager.  Specifically, LANS management officials failed to take action once they became aware of issues related to the Classification Officer.  We made recommendations that, if implemented, will strengthen the management and oversight of Los Alamos Site Office information and security program reporting.

The full version of this report is classified and not available for public viewing.

Topic: Management & Administration