Plutonium halts clean-up at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Discovery of a pipe with a high level of plutonium-239 at a clean-up site at Los Alamos National Laboratory has forced officials to shut down operations.

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The pipe, which was dug up by an excavator three weeks ago, had plutonium-239 that exceeded the amount lab officials had expected and that was allowed above the ground, lab spokesman Fred deSousa said Friday.

The lab had estimated about 200 grams of plutonium-239 over the 6-acre clean-up site. The pipe alone alone had 42 grams, or about 1.6 ounces.

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