• U.S. nuclear recycling plans raise proliferation risks

    GAO says that the Department of Energy’s new approach to recycling nuclear materials — or rather, the department’s 2006 decision to go back to a more traditional plutonium separation method — increases the risk of nuclear proliferation

  • Thermo Fisher's radiation detection system available commercially

    Thermo Fisher Scientific launched its intricate radiation detection system during last year’s Labour Party conference in Bournmouth; company now makes system available for the wider markets, targeting first responder, nuclear power, industrial, and medical facility protection

  • Next generation of nukes may not happen

    The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) had argued that the Reliable Replacement Warhead (RRW) was needed because it would be safer to stockpile and harder for terrorists to acquire and use, but Congress was not persuaded

  • 5th Bomb Wing flunks nuclear inspection

    Last August six nuclear-tipped cruise missiles were mistakenly loaded onto a B-52 Stratofortress at Minot Air Force Base in South Dakota and flown to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana — a serious violations of the U.S. Air Force’s regulations regarding flying nuclear weapons over U.S. terrotiry; heads rolled; the Defense Threat Reduction Agency came back to Minot on 17 May to conduct an inspection of how nuclear weapons were being handled now — and issued a scathingly critical report

  • Iranian-born U.S. citizen charged with nuclear smuggling

    The Iranian-born engineer worked for seventeen years at Palo Verde nuclear plant, about fifty miles west of downtown Phoenix, the largest U.S. nuclear plant; he loaded software onto his laptop, and took the laptop to Iran

  • IAEA: Iran evasive about its nuclear program

    Iran’s march toward the bomb continues unabated; the U.S. intelligence community may have concluded that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but a UN atomic agency says indications are to the contrary

  • Jimmy Carter: Israel has 150 nuclear bombs

    Former president breaks a 40-year taboo which saw U.S. officials — and Israeli officials — refuse to make explicit references to Israel’s nuclear arsenal

  • Civilian nuclear facilities in Sichuan confirmed safe

    The Chinese government has identified 32 radioactive sources in the earthquake-devastated Sichuan area - hospitals, research centers, factories, but no power plants; 30 sources have already been located and removed; the two remaining sources have been cordoned off and are being excavated

  • Nuclear proliferation looms, I

    Owing to rising oil prices and worries about climate change, there is a growing interest in nuclear power generation; forty countries have told the UN nuclear agency of plans to develop nuclear power generation capability; experts worry that this interest in nuclear technology is fueled at least in part by interest in nuclear weapons - especially in Middle Eastern countries terrified about the rise of a nuclear-armed Iran

  • Unassuming fungi lock depleted uranium out of harm's way

    Common fungi, found in most back gardens, could help clean up battlefields contaminated with depleted uranium

  • Next-generation nuclear fuel may be too hot to handle: report

    It sounded like a good idea: Enrich the uranium used to power nuclear reactors further so that operators will be able to extract more electricity from a given amount of fuel; trouble is, burn-up rates above a certain point would violate U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s safety standards unless new methods were devised for packaging the fuel

  • Iran accelerates march toward the bomb

    The Bush administration December 2007 National Intelligence Estimate asserted that Iran had “halted” its nuclear weapons plans; that assertion did not impress the Iranians, as their effort to acquire nuclear bombs, far from having been “halted,” is now accelerating

  • Cannister containing iridium 192 stolen in Japan

    Worries about a dirty bomb increase as a container containing 48.4 pounds of iridium 192 is stolen from an inspection company in Japan

  • Regional nuclear war would create near-global ozone hole

    A limited nuclear weapons exchange between Pakistan and India using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for at least a decade, according to a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder

  • U.S. officials warn of Al-Qaeda's nuclear ambitions

    DHS, DOE, and intelligence officials tell Congress al-Qaeda is continuing its pursuit of a nuclear weapon; monitoring the progress of the organization in reaching this goal is difficult: “We must find something that is tactical in size but strategic in impact,” says one official