ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT - Defense Secretary Robert Gates is reviewing a lengthy report on the Pentagon's handling of nuclear-related materials and the military's mistaken shipment of ballistic missile fuses to Taiwan.

Gates received the report and a briefing on the matter this week and is considering recommendations by Navy Adm. Kirkland H. Donald, who was asked to conduct a broad investigation of the delivery foul-up.

Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, who is traveling with Gates to several Asian countries, said Wednesday that the recommendations address what happened in the incident and how well the department safeguards other sensitive components.

Morrell provided no details and would not say whether Donald recommended punishment for any personnel who might have been at fault for the Taiwan mishap.

Gates ordered a full inventory of all nuclear weapons and related materials after the incident, and he told officials with the Air Force, Navy and Defense Logistics Agency to assess inventory control procedures for the materials and to submit a report within 60 days.

Four cone-shaped electrical fuses used in intercontinental ballistic missile warheads were shipped to the Taiwanese instead of the helicopter batteries they had ordered.

It was the second nuclear-related mistake involving the military that has been revealed in recent months. In August, an Air Force B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and flown from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., to Barksdale Air Force Base, La. At the time, the pilot and crew were unaware they had nuclear arms aboard.