Boehlert, Hall, Commend Hard-hitting IG Rpeort on Los Alamos

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) and Ranking Member Ralph Hall (D-TX), today issued the following statements in response to the release of the Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General’s report Special Inquiry: Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory:

“I commend the DOE Office of the Inspector General for their work on this eye-opening, deeply troubling report.  This raises serious questions about management issues at Los Alamos National Laboratory – many that were supposed to have been addressed in the wake of the Wen Ho Lee investigation.  In the words of the IG, much of what has occurred at Los Alamos in the last year is ‘incomprehensible,'” said Chairman Boehlert. “We welcome recent actions taken by the University of California and the Department of Energy, but there is much more to be done.  In December, we asked the General Accounting Office to undertake a thorough review of the management systems at LANL.  And one of the main conclusions I can draw from this report is that this further investigation is certainly warranted.” 

Ranking Member Hall stated, “When an institution takes on the management of a great national lab they take on a great public trust.  I am disappointed in what we learned today about Los Alamos National Lab.  The Inspector General’s office has worked hard to get to the bottom of the misconduct reported at LANL.  They have concluded that the current management system is designed to discourage employees from reporting misconduct, including property crimes.  While the IG found no evidence of criminal intent, it is likely that the systems management put in place allowed criminal activity to occur.  That must change.”

The IG report can be found at http://www.ig.doe.gov/pdf/ig-0584.pdf.