February 26, 2003

Noah Shachtman defends his Los Alamos security (or lack thereof) piece with e-mail comments and a link about a special forces mock attack that stole a wheelbarrow-full of nuclear material.

Two thoughts on Shachtman's break-in:

1. Based on comments from other people who have been at Los Alamos, I'm not as worried as Noah. Unless he took pictures of classified stuff or stole something, the lab's security wasn't breeched. It may be vulnerable, but Shachtman's story doesn't demonstrate that for me.
   
   
2. The special forces attack happened in 1997. Another successful mock attack took place in 2000. Has security been improved since then? We don't know, and a reporter jumping over some barbed wire and sneaking around abandoned buildings doesn't prove there is a problem. This is gotcha journalism.