Page "Los Alamos National Laboratory" Paragraph 15

The laboratory has attracted negative publicity from a number of events.

In 1999, Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee was accused of 59 counts of mishandling classified information by downloading nuclear secrets —" weapons codes " used for computer simulations of nuclear weapons tests — to data tapes and removing them from the lab.

After ten months in jail, Lee pled guilty to a single count and the other 58 were dismissed with an apology from U. S. District Judge James Parker for his incarceration.

In 2000, two computer hard drives containing classified data were announced to have gone missing from a secure area within the laboratory, but were later found behind a photocopier ; in 2003, the laboratory's director John Browne, and deputy director, resigned following accusations that they had improperly dismissed two whistleblowers who had alleged widespread theft at the lab.

The year 2000 brought additional hardship for the laboratory in the form of the Cerro Grande Fire, a severe forest fire that destroyed several buildings ( and employees ' homes ) and forced the laboratory to close for two weeks.