NEW YORK () -- A security system installed by the United States late last year is in place around the Russian nuclear stockpile most vulnerable to theft, Newsweek magazine has reported.


Moscow's Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, which houses hundreds of pounds of nuclear material, had no inventory controls, monitoring system or adequate fencing, Newsweek said.


"There was nothing to stop thieves from backing up a truck and loading what they wanted," an unidentified U.S. official told the magazine for an item in its January 30 edition.


After the establishment of U.S. security measures at Kurchatov, a review of security at six other high-risk facilities was agreed to by Russia -- including the Obninsk breeder-reactor research facility, the magazine said.