Los Alamos halts work in wake of apparent security breach

The Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory has blamed the July 7, 2004 disappearance of two classified computer disks on a few employees flouting the rules, and on July 15, ordered a complete stand-down or work stoppage at the lab. The occurrence of several such security lapses in the recent past is fueling speculation about the future management of the laboratory, which has been run by the University of California since its inception 61 years ago.