Gregory Friedman
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Inspector General
Mail Stop 5D-031
1000 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20585

Subject: Complaint number P06HL217

Dear Mr. Friedman,

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 hydronuclear 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 taking up the investigation of the missing plutonium at LANL. I request that you investigation be at the level of a full audit, given the seriousness of the issue. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

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

Cc: Susan Gordon, ANA Director