Weapon-Grade Nuclear Material at Los Alamos Relocated for Security Reasons

Weapon-grade plutonium and uranium has been moved from a technical area at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico to more secure sites, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 11).

The materials had been housed at the laboratory’s Technical Area 18, which has experienced security failures in recent years, according to AP.

The transfer was also a cost-cutting measure, said Los Alamos spokesman Kevin Roark.

“Over the years it’s become increasingly more expensive to have secure areas,” Roark said yesterday.

The material was moved to the Nevada Test Site, the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee, and to Technical Area 55 at Los Alamos, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Material housed at Technical Area 55 is expected to eventually be moved to the Nevada Test Site, said agency spokesman Bryan Wilkes (Matt Mygatt, Associated Press/Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 3).

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