The Department of Energy’s (Department) Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee, provides unique expertise in support of the Department’s science and national
security portfolios. UT-Battelle, LLC, manages ORNL for the Department through the Oak
Ridge Office. ORNL’s mission frequently involves producing and receiving sensitive electronic
information, data which requires special handling to protect against unauthorized disclosure. Of
its approximately 16,400 computers, over 6,200 produce, store or transfer sensitive unclassified
information, such as Official Use Only and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) (e.g. name,
social security number and medical history). Department guidance requires that storage media
no longer in use, but previously used to process sensitive unclassified information, be either
protected by approved encryption or tracked and controlled until purged or destroyed. After
receiving an allegation that computer hard drives were being removed by unauthorized
individuals, a practice that could potentially result in the unauthorized release of sensitive
unclassified information, the Office of Inspector General initiated an inspection to review the
facts and circumstances of the allegation.
