-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: August 31, 2007 12:53:47 AM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Audit finds U.S. nuclear weapons components "misplaced"
"In 1965 a now-closed enrichment facility in Apollo,
Pennsylvania was unable to account for 381.6 pounds of enriched
uranium. A recent article by Howard Kohn and Barbara Newman in
Rolling Stone charges that enriched uranium from the Apollo plant,
and other facilities in Europe as well, was stolen by agents of the
Israeli government, and that the stolen material was used to make
nuclear weapons.
"As of September 1976 nuclear facilities in the U.S. could not
account for more than 8,000 pounds of plutonium and highly enriched
uranium. These "special nuclear materials" (SNM) now fall into the
"materials unaccounted for" or MUF category. (MUF was recently
redefined by the NRC and is now "inventory difference" or ID. MUF
had a negative tone to it!)
"These nuclear materials are lost ("trapped in machinery") or
else diverted, stolen or sold."
--"No Nukes," Anna Gyorgy
Audit finds U.S. nuclear weapons parts misplaced
By Tom Doggett Thu Aug 30, 12:24 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070830/ts_nm/usa_weapons_missing_dc
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Some facilities that handle the U.S. nuclear
weapons stockpile misplaced classified bomb components under their
care, according to an Energy Department audit.
The department's Inspector General also found there was confusion
at the facilities over who was responsible for keeping track of
weapons parts and recommended changes in how to better safeguard
the parts.
John Broehm, a spokesman for the department's National Nuclear
Security Administration that oversees the U.S. nuclear weapons
arsenal, said his agency disagreed with the recommendations.
He said the parts, which he declined to identify, were later found.
A summary of the IG's audit -- a little-noticed two-page document
released in late July -- found that two of the three sites reviewed
did not track "many" classified weapons parts in their custody.
The facilities "could not readily account for or locate some of the
items included in our inventory sample," the IG summary said.
The Inspector General's office would not elaborate beyond the
summary document or say when the audit was done.
Since the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, the
United States has worried that terrorists may try to buy or steal
weapons in other countries to use against it, but the IG's findings
raise the possibility of domestic weapons parts getting into the
wrong hands.
The IG said it suggested changes to improve tracking and
safeguarding the classified weapons parts, but "management did not
agree with the report's conclusions and recommendations."
The NNSA said extra accountability controls were not needed on
parts for "non-war reserve" weapons, which are used only for
routine testing, research and development.
"We're very comfortable that our accountability standards are more
than sufficient for keeping track of everything," Broehm said this
week.
The IG wanted the same tough standards used for "war reserve" bombs
that are ready for use to be applied to all weapons parts.
The NNSA operates at 11 facilities, including three national
research laboratories: Los Alamos and Sandia in New Mexico and
Livermore in California. The agency also oversees the Pantex Plant
near Amarillo, Texas, which is the only U.S. nuclear weapons
assembly and disassembly facility.
The IG said details on the problems at the weapons sites would not
be made public.
"We're not going to be able to provide any additional information
due to national security," IG spokeswoman Marilyn Richardson said.
However, the IG's summary of its audit broadly addresses the
shortcomings discovered.
The summary said security officials at the two sites in question
said they were not responsible for keeping track of the weapons
parts, even though they acknowledged they had "certain physical
safeguarding responsibilities."
President George W. Bush in 2001 directed that the U.S. nuclear
weapons stockpile be reduced from about 6,000 operational warheads
at the time to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012 -- a goal the
administration reaffirmed last month.
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