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Radioactive materials stolen from LANL

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Radioactive materials stolen from LANL ( Albuquerque Journal, Oct 22nd )

Federal officials are investigating the theft of radioactive materials from an area at Los Alamos National Laboratory set aside for contaminated waste – among them a bandsaw that registered 500 times the allowable limit of contamination.

Individuals who take property from the lab typically move it to their homes, garages or outbuildings, according to a federal court filing. In 2015, there have been 76 thefts of lab property by LANL personnel, according to the document. The Los Alamos Police Department has looked into 13 reported thefts from various lab areas, including the contaminated storage yard.

The individual suspected of removing the items has not been criminally charged, according to a record check. A spokesman for LANL referred questions to the FBI, which did not respond to a request for comment.

Comments

Anonymous said…
"It's the same old day-in and day-out safety and security issues at Los Alamos", Dr. Victor "Vic" Reis, former Assistant Secretary for Defense Programs, DP-1, Department of Energy, 1997
10/27/2015 5:09 AM
Anonymous said…
Please cite the open source for this comment. Or else it never happened. And shut up. Besides, Vic Reis was an early-onset Alzheimers victim, sad for him and his family.
10/27/2015 7:14 PM
Anonymous said…
That saw was in the discarded awaiting disposal. Is repurposing a discarded $0-value item a theft or recycling?

Yes it violates law to remove mildly surface contaminated material from the waste bin, but can a person steal an item of no value, or even negative value?

Not overly concerned.
10/27/2015 7:15 PM
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