| The Air Force has 2,300
big nuclear warheads stored right at the cross point of the two major runways
at Albuquerque Sunport, and nuclear warheads are shipped in an out of here all
the time. 
Kirtland
Passes Nuke Inspection
by John J. Lumpkin,
April 24, 2000 Kirtland Air
Force Base, Albuquerque, NM — The military caretakers
of the nuclear weapons stored here passed a major inspection completed this month,
base officials said. Kirtland,
one of two primary nuclear-weapon storage depots in the country,
received a "satisfactory" rating from Air Force inspectors, who performed
a Nuclear Surety Inspection of Kirtland's 377th Air Base Wing.
Nuclear surety inspections are performed on all "nuclear-capable units"
in the Air Force at least every 18 months, according to the Air Force Inspector
General. Units receive either "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory"
ratings, according to a base spokeswoman.
That differs from previous inspections, where units received one of five ratings,
ranging from "outstanding" to "unsatisfactory."
Kirtland received the second-highest ranking, "excellent," in its inspection
in late 1998.
Although
inspection results are only partially made public, they are one of the few ways
to track the military's safety record with nuclear weapons.
Inspectors looked at everything from administration to security to safety, according
to the base's news release. The 377th received passing or better grades in all
categories examined, the release says.
"I applaud the professionalism of everyone in the Wing," Col. Richard
Stocchetti, the inspection team leader, told the wing's staff last week, according
to the release from the base. "Their ability is reflected in the results."
"You've been rewarded for all your hard work," Col. Polly Peyer, the
377th's wing commander, told the troops. "This is a true test of combat readiness."
Kirtland is believed to have the largest number of nuclear
weapons kept at a single site in the United States.
The Air Force's policy is to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear
weapons at any specific location, preferring to call them "priority 'A' munitions."
But the independent Natural Resources Defense Council, or
the NRDC, estimated some 2,450 nuclear weapons were at Kirtland in 1998.
That number is not static, as weapons are frequently moved in and out of the base.
The weapons are directly under the auspices of the 898th Munitions Squadron, part
of the 377th, the base's host unit.
The nuclear weapons are kept in the 300,000-square-foot
Kirtland Underground Munitions Storage Complex, completed in 1991.
They once were stored in bunkers in the Manzano foothills.
Some
of the weapons, believed to include cruise missile warheads,
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile warheads and gravity bombs, are categorized
as in reserve, in storage, or awaiting disarmament. | 
