September 7, 2007

Material Control and Accountability at Los Alamos National Laboratory

The Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has a national security mission that includes responsibility for the science, engineering and technology related to certain radioactive materials supporting the Nation's nuclear weapons program. These include materials such as plutonium, enriched uranium and depleted uranium. LANL maintains inventories of Categories I, 11,111, and IV accountable nuclear material. Categories I and I1 materials are those that would be most attractive to an adversary intent on theft or diversion. Categories 111 and N materials are those that would be less attractive, because they contain smaller quantities of plutonium, uranium or other materials.