Associated Press
April 15, 2003

Agency proposes continued use of lie detectors though study details inaccuracies

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department decided Monday to continue using lie detector tests to protect the nation's nuclear arms stockpile, despite a scientific study that found severe shortcomings in the tests' accuracy.

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the department must use the best tools available to protect sensitive information about the stockpile. Critics said the department is making a mistake by ignoring recommendations of the study of polygraph effectiveness done six months ago at the urging of Congress.

"Basically they've ignored the evidence," said Stephen Fienberg of Carnegie Mellon University, who chaired the National Academy of Sciences study.

"I can hardly believe this decision," said Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee. "My concerns and those of other members about DOE's polygraph program led to the legal requirement that DOE propose a new polygraph rule. I think it is time for a congressional hearing."

The Energy Department imposed lie detector requirements on employees several years ago in the aftermath of the Wen Ho Lee controversy at the department's nuclear weapons laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. Lee was accused in 1999 of mishandling nuclear weapons codes; the case ended with a plea bargain that freed the Taiwanese-born scientist.

Many scientists at department labs objected that polygraph tests were inherently inaccurate, which prompted congressional inquiries and the scientific review.

Congress ordered the Energy Department to take the study's findings into account.

In a proposed rule, however, the department says retaining the program is well-suited to fulfilling national security needs.

The scientific review headed by Fienberg concluded that federal agencies should not rely on lie detectors to screen workers and job applicants because the machines simply are too inaccurate.

The likelihood of ignoring a spy because he passed a polygraph test is so high that relying on the tests probably is a greater danger to national security than discarding them, Fienberg said in response to the proposed new Energy Department rule.

"It's bureaucratic impudence," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists. "Energy said, 'We'll replace the existing policy with precisely the same policy."'

By refusing to change, Abraham is expressing unwillingness to make life difficult for intelligence agencies and the Pentagon, which made the mistake long ago of using polygraphs as their primary counterintelligence tool, said Dr. Alan Zelicoff, senior scientist in the Center for National Security and Arms Control at Sandia National Laboratory.

Zelicoff, whose laboratory is covered by the Energy Department policy, said the careers of some scientists have been ruined because false positive results on polygraph tests.

In justifying keeping the polygraph program as it is, the Energy Department pointed to language in the scientific study about use of lie detectors as a trigger for detailed follow-up investigation.

Abraham said the polygraph is not used on a "stand-alone basis but as part of a larger fabric of investigative and analytical reviews."

But Fienberg said one problem the scientific study identified is that "every time we asked what it means to follow up, there is nothing for them to turn to."

"It's hard to believe that you would be able to catch a spy" from polygraph tests, Fienberg said.

In a news release, the Energy Department characterized the scientific study as having concluded that polygraph testing is accurate enough for "event-specific investigations" but that its costs outweigh its benefits when used for employee screening.

Fienberg said the Energy Department's news release "ignores the substance of all of the problems associated with the polygraph, its use and its scientific base that we spent our time on."

The Energy Department's position follows a move by the Pentagon to expand its polygraph program. The Pentagon told Congress recently that it might seek authorization to conduct more than the allowed 5,000 polygraph exams per year.

Copyright 2003 Associated Press