Hundreds of nuclear missile components in the U.S. arsenal cannot be located, the Financial Times reports, citing unpublicized details from a Pentagon report. One official put the number of missing parts at more than 1,000. The disclosure follows two nuclear blunders in the past year: the shipment of nuclear missile cones to Taiwan, and the cross-country flight of a bomber carrying nuclear warheads. Defense Secretary Robert Gates fired two top Air Force official who were blamed for the Taiwan screw-up. The Pentagon report, by Adm. Kirkland Donald, concluded that both incidents had a "common origin' which was "the gradual erosion of nuclear standards and a lack of effective oversight by air force leadership.' The FT quotes a military official as saying that the report had "identified issues about record keeping,' but that there was no suggestion that components had ended up in the hands of countries that should not have received them. A National Security Council spokesman would not comment on the missing components, but said "the White House has confidence that secretary Gates, through his actions with the air force, is addressing all of these issues.'