Nuke agency official forced to resign
U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman announced Thursday that he has asked Linton Brooks to resign as head of the National Nuclear Security Administration because of failure to prevent security breaches at the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Brooks said he would step down in two or three weeks.
The most recent incident involved a subcontractor who was found by police in New Mexico to have electronic versions of classified documents in his home.
The NNSA's mission includes protecting the nation's nuclear stockpile and preventing the spread of nuclear material that could be used in weapons of mass destruction. The agency is in charge of the MegaPorts Initiative under which the government loans radiation portal monitors to foreign customs administrations to screen outbound containers for smuggled nuclear material. It also is working with the Department of Homeland Security on the Secure Freight initiative for screening overseas containers and helping develop next-generation radiation detection devices for overseas and domestic ports.