Lab security audit garners media attention
Over the past few days, media stories appeared about the recent DOE Office of Health, Safety and Security (HSS) audit that occurred on site in March and April. The stories have suggested there are major problems with the Lab’s overall security posture.
"In reality, the audit identified four inspection areas that were rated as having effective performance and four that required additional attention to enhance security," said Dave Leary, LLNL security director.
"We are pleased that we received effective ratings in some areas and we immediately took action on the inspection categories that required improvement," he said. "There is no sensitive material at risk."
Lab personnel worked with both Livermore Site Office and headquarter teams as well as LLNS parent company experts to identify both short-term and long-term actions for implementation.
Some of the short-term actions have included the addition of staff, accelerated, hands-on training and training conducted in a more realistic environment to ensure readiness.
"I want to personally thank all Security Organization personnel and all Laboratory employees for their efforts during the formal part of this audit, as well as those individuals who are helping us right now with some of the short-term and longterm actions," Leary said.
"It is important to put this audit into context," he said. "The team spent almost seven weeks on site and looked at cyber, protective force, physical, information and personnel security. It was a comprehensive review that is designed to be tough and to test the system to expose any possible weaknesses. The threat we face is always evolving. It is important for us to reassess our security posture on an ongoing basis and to test against new adversarial situations. This audit helped us identify areas where we can focus efforts."
Audits like the one LLNL experienced in March and April occur routinely at all DOE and NNSA sites. The final report is expected to be released later this month.
