Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists’ Project on Government Secrecy comments in his Secrecy News e-mail publication: DOE RESTRUCTURES POLYGRAPH PROGRAM Under pressure from members of Congress, scientific critics and others, the Department of Energy said that it will reduce its reliance on polygraph testing to screen its employees. “The approach I am … Read more
Andrea Widener reports for the Contra Costa Times. Excerpt: Under mounting pressure, the Department of Energy will scale back its massive polygraph testing program to half its previous size, a move that may halt mandatory screening tests for some nuclear weapons workers. The decision is a sudden turnaround for the DOE, which this summer had … Read more
Staff writer Ian Hoffman reports for the Oakland Tribune. Excerpt: In an about-face, top U.S. nuclear weapons officials said they plan on scaling back polygraph testing for thousands of weapons scientists and workers, in part to avoid driving them away. Yet the U.S. Energy Department’s proposed reduction of polygraph testing still would leave enough top … Read more
Associated Press correspondent Robert Gehrke reports in this article published in Newsday. Excerpt: WASHINGTON — The Energy Department plans to use fewer polygraph tests to detect espionage at energy labs after a study said employees could be unjustly accused — in effect reversing a policy that grew out of the Wen Ho Lee investigation. The … Read more
Richard Willing reports for USA Today. This short article is cited here in full: WASHINGTON — Citing ongoing doubts about the accuracy of lie detectors, a top Energy Department official said Thursday the department plans to eliminate routine screening of most employees. About 20,000 Energy Department workers, including many with access to secret weapons programs, … Read more
New York Times correspondent William J. Broad reports. Excerpt: The Energy Department said yesterday in a surprise announcement that it was sharply cutting the number of lie detector tests it would give to people with access to nuclear secrets, particularly at the nation’s weapons laboratories. The deputy energy secretary, Kyle E. McSlarrow, said at a … Read more
Charles P. Pierce writes on pre-employment polygraph screening in the cover story of the 3 August 2003 edition of the Boston Globe Magazine. Excerpt: WAS HE SWEATING? Of course he was sweating. But he didn’t want to be sweating, and he didn’t want his heart to race this way, because he knew what that did … Read more
Andrea Widener reports for the Contra Costa County Times. Excerpt: Last fall, a panel of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences found that polygraph tests are unproven, and perhaps even dangerous, as a tool to search for potential spies at the nation’s nuclear weapons labs. Its measures of heart rate, breathing and sweaty palms are … Read more
Dr. Alan P. Zelicoff comments on polygraph screening in this Washington Post op-ed piece. Excerpt: In 1999, in the midst of alleged leaks of nuclear weapons information from his department’s national laboratories, the secretary of energy, Bill Richardson, set out to show that he could be “tough” on national security matters. He sought congressional funding … Read more
The Daily Northwestern published the following letter by George Maschke in response to Sheila Burt’s 16 May 2003 article, “CIA recruiters more Moneypenny than Bond”: CIA recruiter Elizabeth was less than candid when she told Northwestern students that “those who tell the truth have nothing to worry about” regarding the polygraph. The National Academy of … Read more