Energy Secretary vows to get to bottom of missing computer drives case

(Washington-AP) -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is promising to get to the bottom of the disappearance -- and reappearance -- of<br>two computer hard drives at the Los Alamos weapons lab.<br><br>Sources

Friday, June 16th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Washington-AP) -- Energy Secretary Bill Richardson is promising to get to the bottom of the disappearance -- and reappearance -- of
two computer hard drives at the Los Alamos weapons lab.

Sources say the drives were found behind a copying machine within the lab's top-secret secure area. They had gone missing six
weeks ago.

Richardson told reporters in Phoenix the drives were found in an area that apparently had been searched before. Richardson says
investigators are looking into "inconsistences" surrounding the whereabouts of the devices.

Lab officials have said they "turned the place upside down" after the disappearance was first reported. Investigators haven't ruled out the possibility that the two drives had been taken elsewhere since last being seen in April.

The two hard drives contain an array of nuclear secrets, including highly technical information on the dismantling of U-S and foreign nuclear bombs.