Congress Calls for Study of X-Ray Project

Congress last week approved $27 million in fiscal 2006 for the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test Facility, but requested a review of the Los Alamos National Laboratory project that is long overdue and over budget, the Albuquerque Journal reported yesterday (see GSN, July 5).

National Nuclear Security Administration managers have said they now addressed problems with the project, an X-ray machine for studying nuclear weapons. The project at the New Mexico facility has exceeded its budget by $250 million and is 18 years late, according to the Journal.

The JASONS, a group of senior scientists sometimes called upon for independent studies of U.S. defense programs, will conduct the review.

“We’ve built in a number of reforms and directives to force (the Energy Department) to take a critical look” at the X-ray and other programs, Senator Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said in a statement (John Fleck, Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 14).

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