Energy Secretary Urges Nuclear Lab to Punish 3 Over Security

By JAMES RISEN
Published: August 13, 1999

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson has recommended disciplinary action against a former director of Los Alamos National Laboratory and two other officials for failing to handle properly the spy investigation at the lab, officials said today.

Mr. Richardson acted in response to a critical new report by the department's Inspector General that focused on the actions of 19 current or former officials at Los Alamos and at Energy Department headquarters who were involved in investigating evidence that China had stolen nuclear secrets.

The officials said one of Mr. Richardson's recommendations was aimed at Siegfried Hecker, director of Los Alamos in 1986-97, who still works there as a scientist. He also recommended to the current director, John Brown, that action be taken against Terry Craig, until recently a counterintelligence team leader at the lab, and Robert Vrooman, former chief of counterintelligence.

Mr. Craig is still employed at the lab; Mr. Vrooman has retired but works for a lab contractor. Mr. Craig and Mr. Hecker did not return telephone calls seeking comment; Mr. Vrooman could not be reached.

The form of discipline is up to Mr. Brown, but officials say Mr. Craig could be fired and Mr. Vrooman's ties to the lab could be ended. It is unclear what Mr. Hecker faces.

Mr. Brown said he would act soon.

The full report is classified, and does not assign specific blame. But it does include ''implied criticism'' of the actions of the former Energy Secretary, Federico Pena, and of the former Deputy Secretary, Elizabeth Moler, for not being more aggressive in handling the investigation, officials familiar with the report said.

In the face of mounting criticism, Mr. Richardson had promised action, but he decided to wait for the Inspector General's review.

In March a Los Alamos scientist, Wen Ho Lee, the chief suspect in the espionage investigation, was fired for security violations at the lab. He has not been charged with any crime, and he has denied that he spied for China. After he was fired, investigators found he had conducted unauthorized transfers of secrets from a classified computer into an unclassified network.

The United States Attorney in New Mexico has been considering whether to seek an indictment against Mr. Lee for his handling of classified information. Mr. Lee has stated that he transferred the data to protect the contents as a routine part of his job.

The Inspector General's report focuses on the investigation of Mr. Lee, particularly the failure of officials to restrict his access to classified material or to monitor his computer until long after he came under investigation.

Mr. Hecker was cited for failing to follow through on ''an express request by senior management to develop a plan for limiting the suspect's access, for failing to inform department's management that the plan had failed, and for failing to take alternative actions,'' according to a statement by Mr. Richardson. Though he did not name Mr. Hecker, other officials said his reference was to Mr. Hecker.

Mr. Vrooman was cited for allowing Mr. Lee continued access to nuclear secrets.

Mr. Craig, who was also not identified in the statement, was cited for failing to determine whether Mr. Lee had signed a waiver allowing monitoring of his computer. Mr. Lee signed the waiver in April 1995.