Los Alamos spokesman Jeff Berger referred questions about the January breach to the Department of Energy or its specialist agency, the National Nuclear Security Administration. The sources confirm to NEWSWEEK that the breach was rated "category one," meaning it posed "the most serious threats to national security interests." The two sources tell NEWSWEEK that the e-mail concerned what the weapons community calls "special nuclear materials," the other ingredients besides uranium or plutonium at the core of nuclear weapons. These incidents come as Los Alamos is still reeling from the revelation that, in January, half a dozen board members of the company that manages the lab circulated-over the Internet-an e-mail to each other containing the most highly classified information about the composition of America's nuclear arsenal. But he sent his e-mail over the open Internet, rather than through the secure defense network. The material he e-mailed was "highly classified," the same source says. The scientist works in Los Alamos's P Division, which does experimental physics related to weapons design, a lab source says. Then, 10 days ago, a Los Alamos scientist fired off an e-mail to colleagues at the Nevada nuclear test site. (The source’s account was confirmed by a midlevel Los Alamos official who also requests anonymity owing to the sensitivity of the subject.) This source adds that Los Alamos has started a frantic effort to inventory all its laptops, calling in most of them and substituting nonportable desktop models. In Ireland, the laptop was stolen from the vacationer's hotel room. A senior nuclear official familiar with the inner workings of Los Alamos-who would not be named talking about internal matters-says the laptop's hard drive contained "government documents of a sensitive nature." The laptop was also fitted with an encryption card advanced enough that its export is government-controlled. In late May, a Los Alamos staffer took his lab laptop with him on vacation to Ireland. Barely 10 days after revelations of a leak of highly classified material over the Internet, NEWSWEEK has learned of two other security breaches. JWhat's going on at Los Alamos? The nation's premier nuclear-weapons laboratory appears plagued with continuing security problems.
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