IG: MORE WORK NEEDED ON LANL NUCLEAR MATERIAL ACCOUNTING

Six years after a sharply critical Inspector General’s report on nuclear Material Control and Accountability (MC&A), Los Alamos National Laboratory has made progress, according to a review released yesterday. But the lab still has work to do, the Department of Energy’s IG concluded. “While several corrective actions were completed on the recommendations included in our prior report, our inspection revealed that Los Alamos continued to experience problems with the accountability of certain nuclear materials controlled under its MC&A Program,” the IG said in its report. Because of the attractiveness of special nuclear material (generally plutonium and highly enriched uranium) as a terrorist target or for diversion to clandestine weapons programs, accounting standards are exacting. A spot check by the IG’s team of 1,564 items at the lab found 26 either misidentified in the inventory or located in the wrong place. That accuracy rate of 98.34 percent falls short of the 99 percent accuracy rate mandated in DOE standards. National Nuclear Security Administration officials concurred with the IG’s findings, and pledged more steps to try to improve the lab’s performance.