A.J. Eggenberger, Chairman
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board
625 Indiana Ave, NW, Suite 700
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Dr. Eggenberger,

A reader of IEER's report, Weapons Plutonium in Los Alamos Soil and Waste: Environmental, Health, and Security Implications, brought to my attention that my analysis of plutonium in Los Alamos waste did not take into account plutonium used in hydro-nuclear tests at Los Alamos. As a result, my colleague Brice Smith and I decided to correct the oversight and take the opportunity to thoroughly review and revise the analysis as necessary. We have also decided to issue it as a separate report: Dangerous Discrepancies: Missing Plutonium in Los Alamos National Laboratory Waste Accounts, since there was no problem with the first part dealing with residual radioactivity and cleanup. A copy of the revised report is enclosed. While some details are different from Part II of the November 29, 2005 report, the major conclusions of the analysis are unchanged. We have concluded that Los Alamos plutonium accounts have a discrepancy of about 300 kilograms of plutonium. The range is 270 kilograms to 350 kilograms.

Thank you very much for the responses you've provided thus far. I look forward to further explanations of the large discrepancy and replies to the questions raised in my prior correspondence.

Sincerely,

Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. President, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research

cc: Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Energy
      Dr. Robert Kuckuck, Director of LANL
      John Ordaz, U.S. DOE-LAAO
      Dr. Charles H. Keilers, U.S. DOE-LAOO
      Ambassador Linton Brooks, Administrator, NNSA
      U.S. Senator Pete Domenici
      U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman
      New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson
      New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ron Curry
      NNSA Los Alamos Site Office Manager Ed Wilmot