WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The head of U.S. nuclear weapons agency has been fired following security breakdowns at different federal facilities, including a nuclear weapons lab in New Mexico, CNN reported on Friday.

    Linton Brooks, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which manages the nation's nuclear weapons labs for the U.S. Energy Department, said in a statement that he would leave the job within two to three weeks, according to the report.

    Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told reporters that the nuclear agency under Brooks had not adequately corrected security problems, adding that "I have decided it is time for new leadership at the NNSA."

    He said an acting head of the agency will be named soon.

    Brooks, a former ambassador and arms-control negotiator who was appointed to the post in May 2003, said Bodman asked for his resignation because of a number of management issues, the most recent of which was a security breach at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.