Breakdown


Book Description

The enormous effort-called the Manhattan Project-that produced the world's first atomic bomb was supposed to be the best kept secret of World War II. And the Project's Los Alamos, New Mexico site where the bomb was perfected was supposed to have the tightest security of the project's other 37 installations across the United States. Even the vice president, Harry S. Truman, was kept in the dark initially until fate propelled him into the fray. But this was an illusion. Evidence from Soviet and American sources have proven that at least three-and as many as six-Communist spies penetrated the security system at Los Alamos and shared the secret of the atomic bomb with the Stalin regime in the Soviet Union before the end of World War II. Historian Richard Melzer now sheds new light on how security at Los Alamos broke down-not by examining this isolated site in New Mexico from the outside as many other authors have-but from within Los Alamos itself. Using interviews, memoirs, and formerly confidential files Melzer shows that spies quite easily obtained security clearances, gained access to top secret information, and carried this information to their Soviet contacts without a hitch. What Melzer tells us about the flaws of security in the past might well help those in charge of security today as the United States grapples with these problems in the aftermath of the Chinese espionage scandal that rocked Los Alamos and the American intelligence. Photographs, index, bibliography.




Structural Health Monitoring


Book Description

Written by global leaders and pioneers in the field, this book is a must-have read for researchers, practicing engineers and university faculty working in SHM. Structural Health Monitoring: A Machine Learning Perspective is the first comprehensive book on the general problem of structural health monitoring. The authors, renowned experts in the field, consider structural health monitoring in a new manner by casting the problem in the context of a machine learning/statistical pattern recognition paradigm, first explaining the paradigm in general terms then explaining the process in detail with further insight provided via numerical and experimental studies of laboratory test specimens and in-situ structures. This paradigm provides a comprehensive framework for developing SHM solutions. Structural Health Monitoring: A Machine Learning Perspective makes extensive use of the authors’ detailed surveys of the technical literature, the experience they have gained from teaching numerous courses on this subject, and the results of performing numerous analytical and experimental structural health monitoring studies. Considers structural health monitoring in a new manner by casting the problem in the context of a machine learning/statistical pattern recognition paradigm Emphasises an integrated approach to the development of structural health monitoring solutions by coupling the measurement hardware portion of the problem directly with the data interrogation algorithms Benefits from extensive use of the authors’ detailed surveys of 800 papers in the technical literature and the experience they have gained from teaching numerous short courses on this subject.







Los Alamos


Book Description

Growing up in the shadow of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) the author, Chuck Montano, was thrilled to land a job there. But he never imagined the dangerous world he was about to enter. Los Alamos: A Whistleblower's Diary is a shocking account of foul play, theft and abuse at our nation's premier nuclear R&D installation, where those who dare to question pay with their careers and, potentially, their lives. This first-of-its-kind exposae ventures past LANL's armed guards and security fences to chronicle persistent efforts to prevent hidden truths from surfacing in the wake of headline.




Nuclear Security: Los Alamos National Laboratory Faces Challenges in Sustaining Physical and Cyber Security Improvements


Book Description

Los Alamos Nat. Lab. (LANL) is one of 3 Nat. Nuclear Security Admin. (NNSA) labs. that designs and develops nuclear weapons for the U.S. stockpile. LANL employees rely on sensitive and classified information and assets that are protected at different levels, depending on the risks posed if they were lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised. However, LANL has experienced several significant security breaches during the past decade. This testimony provides: (1) views on physical security at LANL, as discussed in a report issued on June 13, 2008; (2) preliminary observations on physical security at Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab.; and (3) views on cyber security at LANL, as discussed in a Sept. 9, 2008 report. Charts and tables.




Los Alamos National Laboratory


Book Description

In 2006, a Los Alamos Nat. Lab. (LANL) contract employee unlawfully removed classified information from the lab. This was the latest in a series of high-profile security incidents at LANL spanning almost a decade. LANL conducts research on nuclear weapons and other nat. security areas for the Nat. Nuclear Security Admin. This report: (1) identifies LANL¿s major programs and activities and how much they rely on classified resources; (2) identifies initiatives LANL is taking to reduce and consolidate its classified resources and physical footprints and the extent to which these initiatives address earlier security concerns; and (3) determines whether its new mgmt. approaches will sustain security improvements over the long-term. Illustrations.