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THERE was a time when Bill Richardson, who runs the US Department of Energy
(DOE), was one of Washington’s golden boys. He was even mentioned as a possible
vice presidential running mate for Al Gore. Then Wen Ho Lee was accused of
stealing nuclear secrets from the DOE’s Los Alamos laboratory, the place where
the first nuclear weapons were designed. And this year, another scandal:
computer discs containing nuclear plans disappeared when the lab was evacuated
during a forest fire. Eventually, the discs turned up behind a
photocopier—but the investigation into their disappearance continues. Lie
detector tests for staff…