NUKE MATERIAL STAYS AT LOS ALAMOS HOT SPOT

It sure seemed like a good idea at the time. So maybe it was des­tined never to get off the ground at the trou­bled Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Technical Area 18, or the “Critical Experiments Facility,” is one of the lab’s most sen­si­tive and worst defended — facil­i­ties. Several tons of weapons-​​grade highly enriched ura­nium and plu­to­nium are there. But, because it’s at the bot­tom of a canyon, it’s almost impos­si­ble to keep safe from a ter­ror­ist attack. In a 1997 exer­cise, Army spe­cial forces were able to walk out of TA-​​18 with a wheel­bar­row load of nuclear mate­ri­als.
After years of warn­ings from watch­dog groups like the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham finally agreed ear­lier this year to move TA-18’s nuclear sup­ply to safer loca­tions.
When the lab was shut down for a secu­rity and safety review, Los Alamos’ man­agers at the University of California pro­posed to use quiet period to hurry up the trans­fer of that radioac­tive mate­r­ial. It meant all the ura­nium and plu­to­nium could be out by the end of the year with­out hold­ing up impor­tant research.
But Energy Department offi­cials have blocked the move, POGO notes in a let­ter to Abraham. It’s the lat­est in a series of bureau­cratic maneu­vers that have under­mined the Energy Secretary’s orders, the group alleges.

August 13th, 2004 | Los Alamos and Labs | Comments Off Both comments and pings are currently closed.