WASHINGTON, USA, September 22, 1999 (LA Times)

Responding to months of uproar over allegations of Chinese espionage, Congress appears ready to create a new nuclear weapons agency in the most dramatic reorganization of the Energy Department in 22 years. While the new agency will not be totally independent, the changes will insulate the department's nuclear weapons programs and consolidate authority over the government's three nuclear weapons labs.

Tucked into a popular $288.8 billion defense bill, the measure was to come to a final vote in the Senate today, after passing the House last week by a veto-proof 375/45 margin.

The reorganization marks the most far reaching fallout yet to months of controversy about lax security at the Energy Department and the alleged theft by China of nuclear warhead secrets from U.S. weapons labs, dating back 20 years.