Fired Los Alamos nuclear expert files appeal
A former Los Alamos nuclear policy expert has filed an appeal in a whistleblower case to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, arguing that the Energy Department had abused its power to label documents secret and retaliated against him for expressing his views.
James E. Doyle was fired July 8 after spending 18 months trying to force Los Alamos officials to reverse their ruling that an article he published in a foreign journal, which questioned the rationale for nuclear deterrence, had diclosed state secrets. The Center for Public Integrity first reported on Doyle's case last month.
Los Alamos is the oldest of America’s nuclear weapons labs and most of its nearly $2 billion annual budget goes to an effort to extend the shelf life of the country’s aging nuclear warheads.
“This article, while supportive of the current Administration’s nuclear policies, is viewed as expressing opinion contrary to other political forces, including those held by” Los Alamos, wrote Doyle’s attorney, Mark Zaid, in the appeal to Moniz.
The case has drawn intense scrutiny from the community of U.S. disarmament and nonproliferation specialists.
Charles Ferguson, president of the Federation of American Scientists, on August 21 wrote to urge Moniz to ensure that Doyle wasn’t penalized for his “good faith efforts to participate in the national dialogue over nuclear policy.”
Doyle is appealing a June 24 decision by the Department of Energy’s Office of Hearings and Appeals that let stand an earlier ruling dismissing a whistleblower case he filed last year.
Doyle’s appeal to Moniz says his security clearances were suspended or revoked, he was docked a day’s pay and he became “persona non grata” at the lab after he objected to the decision to classify his article as secret.
The August 20 appeal seeks reverse these actions and in effect wipe the slate clean when it comes to Doyle's job record, but it would not restore his job. Doyle and Zaid say they plan to challenge his firing in a separate whistleblower case, not yet filed.
Officials at Los Alamos and DOE did not respond to requests for comment.
Related: James Doyle's appeal
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Nuclear Waste. A look at the world’s faltering efforts to control dangerous nuclear explosives. Click here to read more stories in this investigation.
Related stories
Nuclear weapons lab employee fired after publishing scathing critique of the arms race
Japan could be building an irresistible terrorist target, experts say
Obama proposes shifting funds from nuclear nonproliferation to nuclear weapons
Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
