Los Alamos National Laboratory in New
Mexico might be lagging in its effort to build plutonium pits, which fuel
nuclear weapons, a federal report says.
The lab is behind schedule in about half the things it needs to do to
make the grapefruit-sized metal balls, says the report prepared by the
Department of Energy's Office of Inspector General.
The report, released this week, cites bad management and planning that
relied on a problematic computer program.
Progress has been made since the report was prepared, said Everet
Beckner, the DOE's deputy administrator for defense programs.
The lab is now only behind in 14 of the 40 manufacturing processes need
to make the pits, he said.
The United States has not built new, weapons-grade pits in more than 10
years. The DOE made the Los Alamos lab responsible for making new pits
seven years ago.
The possibility of delays has not caused any problems with the work
schedule at Pantex, said Brenda Finley, DOE and National Nuclear Security
Administration spokeswoman.
Through Finley's office, Del Kellogg, leader of the production
operations team said, "At this point, we don't foresee any impact at the
plant."
The lab has made pits, but they have not been certified, or guaranteed
to work as good as the old ones.
Only certified pits can be placed in nuclear weapons. A pit is squeezed
by high explosives. The pit then explodes in a fusion blast.
The report says it will cost $1.7 billion to prepare the first pit.
Chris Paine of the Natural Resources Defense Council questioned how the
lab had failed to make a certified pit, especially given how much money
the lab has spent.
"I think it's ridiculous," he said. "You spend a billion dollars over a
decade and you say you can't certify a pit. You're either incompetent or
you're lying."
The Associated Press and Amarillo Globe-News Business Editor Greg
Rohloff contributed to this report.
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