One of the nation's premier nuclear weapons laboratories is being called out by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Energy for "major weaknesses" in the way it packaged contaminated waste before shipping it to an underground repository in southern New Mexico.
A report made public Wednesday states that not all of Los Alamos National Laboratory's procedures were properly vetted and some procedures didn't conform with environmental requirements.
The report reinforces the findings of internal reviews done by the lab and the Energy Department following a release of radiation at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in February. The plant is closed indefinitely as a result.
The release came from a barrel of waste packed at the lab.
The inspector general has outlined several recommendations aimed at addressing the lab's failures.
© 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
