Energy orders tighter security

Energy Secretary Bill Richardson told Congress Wednesday that he has ordered

tough new security measures in the wake of the lost-and-found saga at Los

Alamos National Laboratory.

Testifying before a hostile Senate Armed Services Committee, Richardson

said the lab's security policies have been under review since the disappearance

of two computer drives containing nuclear secrets. The drives were found

last week behind a copying machine, and the FBI is investigating why they

could not be found for more than a month.

Richardson said there has been no evidence of espionage. Nevertheless,

he said tough new measures are necessary. Among them:

* Encrypting secret information like that found on the drives. The missing

material was not encrypted.

* Staffing all vaults and setting alarms on them when the vaults are

not under guard.

* Revising access to the vaults and changing the combinations to them.