Amount of nuclear-weapon-ready materials that the Dept. of Energy cannot account for "exceeds alarm limits"

A ring of weapons-grade electrorefined plutonium, with 99.96% purity. This 5.3 kg ring is enough plutonium for use in an efficient nuclear weapon. Image via Wikipedia

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From: POGO Project on Government Oversight

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DOE: Broken System for Protecting Nuclear Material Could Compromise Los Alamos Operations

In the midst of trying to account for 80 missing or stolen computers, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is now under fire for a new problem. Critical deficiencies in its system for keeping track of its huge stocks of plutonium and highly enriched uranium—enough for hundreds of nuclear weapons. According to a February 23 internal Department of Energy letter, the amount of nuclear material that LANL could not account for in January “exceeded alarm limits.” While Los Alamos says there is no suspicion of theft or diversion, if it does not know where the material is, it cannot say for certain that the material has not been stolen.

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