A research study to determine the perception of security awareness within Los Alamos National Laboratory

The DOE is opening its doors and much of the Cold War secrets are being declassified. There still remains, however, much information which cannot be declassified at this time. The classified material which cannot be released coupled with new technology research and development still makes security a major issue within the DOE complex. Chapter 1 provides background information on the organizations involved in this research and a discussion of the problem. Three populations were selected for this research: EG and G/EM, a DOE contractor used by Los Alamos; a Los Alamos population of division identified as having committed a security infraction within the six months prior to this study; and a Los Alamos population who had not committed a security infraction during the same time frame. Since security within Los Alamos is still a major issue, the DOE periodically performs security audits to ensure DOE policies are being implemented and that security requirements are being met. This study analyzed security awareness perceptions and the possible relationship to infractions. Chapter 2 discusses other research that has been done in areas which relate directly to the seven hypotheses of this study. Chapter 3 deals with the methodology used to conduct the research. Surveys were sent out to randomly selected employees from each population. Chapter 4 discusses the collected data and presents the statistical results of the study. A detailed discussion of the data analyzed in Chapter 4 is presented in Chapter 5 with recommendations to management. This chapter also looks at the limitations of the study and the implications on future studies in this area