Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter

NEWS ABOUT: atomic bomb

atomic bomb stories: 12 news summaries

 UN Report: Iran Able 
 to Make Nuclear Bomb 

Nation has sufficient data, says 'tentative' IAEA conclusion

(Newser) - Iran may be closer to making a nuclear weapon than thought: A controversial report by the UN nuclear agency concludes that Tehran has "sufficient information to be able to design and produce" such a device. What's more, Iran has gone beyond just acquiring information from rogue experts and has... More »

 Japanese Man, 
 93, Survived 
 Both A-Bombs 

Was on business in Hiroshima; lived in Nagasaki

(Newser) - At 93, a Japanese man has become the first certified survivor of both atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the AP reports. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business Aug. 6, 1945, when the US bombed the city; after a night there, he returned home to Nagasaki, bombed Aug. 9.... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Japan Hiroshima Nagasaki atomic bomb survivors

 Books Map A-Bomb's Spread 

Authors track nations' paths to nuclear club

(Newser) - When it comes to the spread of nuclear weapons, all paths lead back to the US, the New York Times reports in a look at two books. In The Nuclear Express, the authors chart the rise of the world's nine nuclear nations and conclude that "since the birth of... More »

MORE ABOUT:
China nuclear proliferation Russia Israel France atomic bomb Los Alamos Manhattan Project

 Iran Boosts Uranium Stockpile 

UN reports finds country may already have enough for bomb

(Newser) - Iran is rapidly moving forward with its nuclear program and may already have enriched enough uranium to take the next step toward building a nuclear bomb, the Financial Times reports. The uranium will need more enrichment to reach weapons-grade levels, say UN experts, who believe the country will wait until... More »

 Nuke Tests 
 Left Mark on 
 Trees, People 

Scientists can date humans and trees by the extra carbon in their systems

(Newser) - Scientists can now carbon-date baby boomers by detecting atomic bomb residue in their DNA, NPR reports. Turns out that carbon-14 released during above-ground nuclear tests in the 1950s and '60s hung around, then was absorbed into living tissue, experts say. Evidence, in the form of extra carbon neutrons, has been... More »

MORE ABOUT:
baby boomer trees carbon atomic bomb radiocarbon dating carbon date

Are Cold War's Lost Nukes Still Ticking?

Dozens of weapons lost in accidents decades ago are still out there and still deadly

(Newser) - Dozens of American A-bombs lost in Cold War accidents are corroding around the world, Der Spiegel reports. The US admits to misplacing 11, but German nuclear expert Otfried Nassauer says up to 50 went down, mostly in plane crashes. Bombers either collided with tanker planes or, short on fuel, plunged... More »

MORE ABOUT:
nuclear weapons US military Cold War atomic bomb radiation warheads

 Ethel Was 
 Innocent: 
 Witness 

Co-defendant admits being spy, calls Julius' secrets 'junk'

(Newser) - A co-defendant of Julius and Ethel  Rosenberg has admitted for the first time that he was a Soviet spy—and that she was innocent. Morton Sobell, 91, passed military secrets to the Communists in World War II when the nations were still allies, he told the New York Times. Sobell,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
espionage Soviet Union Cold War atomic bomb Communists

Judge Orders Rosenberg Evidence
Kept Secret

Attorneys sought material to clear Ethel

(Newser) - Evidence that could clear the name of Ethel Rosenberg must stay under wraps to protect grand jury secrecy, a judge ruled yesterday. Ethel and husband Julius were executed in 1953 for passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. Her brother David Greenglass, who testified against her, has since said he lied... More »

MORE ABOUT:
espionage Soviet Union nuclear weapons Cold War atomic bomb Communists

EU Experts Say Iran Closer to Nuke Weapon

Tehran a year away
on uranium; separate UN report out today

(Newser) - A new report from a European Union agency concludes that Iran could have enough uranium to build an atomic bomb within one year. The EU results—which precede a major UN report coming out today—look nothing like the findings of the US intelligence community, writes Der Spiegel: the recent... More »

Hiroshima Bomb Pilot Dead at 92

Pilot defended his role to the last, said he had 'no regrets'

(Newser) - The commander and pilot of the B-29 that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945—the first military use of nuclear weapons—died today, the Associated Press reports. Paul Tibbets was 92, and requested no funeral or headstone for fear that they might attract anti-nuclear protesters. Tibbets always... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Japan nuclear weapons obituary Hiroshima Nagasaki World War II atomic bomb

Radiation Weapon Plot Comes to Light

Cold War scheme included assassination, broad contamination

(Newser) - Newly declassified Army documents reveal the US mulled the use of a radioactive weapon to assassinate “important individuals” and contaminate “critical areas for long periods of time.” The heavily censored records date to 1948 and show the weapon was approved for development at the highest levels, reports... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Japan censorship nuclear weapons US Army Cold War atomic bomb radiation

Japanese Pol Resigns Over A-Bomb Gaffe

Defense minister
said WWII bombings were inevitable

(Newser) - Japan's defense minister has resigned in a storm of protest over remarks he made last weekend that the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were justified. Fumio Kyuma said he understood the US decision to drop the bombs, and that "it couldn't be helped." He also suggested that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Japan Fumio Kyuma Hiroshima Nagasaki atomic bomb

12 Stories