How much plutonium is missing?

[ColbertWatcher]

From the Los Angeles Times
Los Alamos' security flaws exposed
An Energy Department investigation into a plutonium mix-up reveals deficiencies that the New Mexico nuclear weapons lab must address, an official says.
By Ralph Vartabedian
March 26, 2009

An Energy Department investigation has alleviated fears that a significant amount of plutonium was missing from a national laboratory, but it has also heightened concerns about flaws in the system for controlling the U.S. stockpile of weapons materials.

The investigation began in February, shortly after a routine inventory at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico found a plutonium shortage estimated at 2.2 pounds, setting off a frantic national effort to determine what happened to the material.

The confidential investigation concluded this week that statisticians at the lab had miscalculated the amount of plutonium at its facility and that none was actually missing.

Although the finding eliminates the worst-case scenario -- that the material left the facility and ended up in rogue hands -- it raises doubts about the lab's management at a time of growing concern about nuclear terrorism.

(more...)

--Los Angeles Times

[villager]

1. How much did Cheney's secret cabal take?

n/t

[ColbertWatcher]

2. According to the article, it seems Arthur Anderson is doing the math ...

... at first they thought 2.2 pounds was missing, but then they realized they didn't count/weight the inventory correctly.

Or, if not Arthur Anderson, maybe Lehman Brothers.

[Enthusiast]

5. I would take the possibility of

a staged domestic attack very seriously. This is all the Republicans need to regain power, and they know it.

[Blackhatjack]

3. I would tend to believe that the material is really missing rather than a CYA report like this...

It is one thing to 'lose' an item of value, but quite another to make a miscalculation of the amount of plutonium in your possession.

It is not like someone used a pencil and wrote down a number wrong, or moved a decimal point.
This material is under constant surveillance.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. I'm just surprised that an investigation began in February.

Obama didn't wait for anything.

[annabanana]

6. k&r . . . . . n/t