nuclear proliferation

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Elderly Nun Proves We Have a Nuclear Security Problem

Sophisticated thieves could easily steal highly enriched uranium

(Newser) - In 2009, a gang of masked men landed a helicopter on a Swedish cash depot, blew open its skylight, and made off with millions of dollars in less than 20 minutes, while throwing the police off their scent with a fake bomb and road spikes. What would happen if thieves...

Obama Eyes Nuke Cuts in Tough State of the Union

Obama set for 'aggressive' speech: Glenn Thrush

(Newser) - Tomorrow's State of the Union is shaping up to be a much tougher speech than we've seen in previous editions from President Obama, writes Glenn Thrush at Politico , calling it "less a presidential olive branch than a congressional cattle prod." Obama doesn't expect Congress to...

North Korea Fired a Rocket ... So What?

Simon Jenkins thinks we have nothing to fear but overreaction itself

(Newser) - North Korea fired a rocket this week, which might be the basis for an inter-continental missile. "How much should we all care? The answer is not much," writes Simon Jenkins at the Guardian . The most this missile might do is "cause a big bang somewhere." North...

US Might Allow Iran Some Uranium Enrichment

Concession would come in exchange for increased inspections

(Newser) - Iran might be allowed to continue enriching uranium up to 5% purity, the high end of civilian usage, if it allows unrestricted inspections and strong supervision of its nuclear program, reports the LA Times . The deal would be a major concession by the United Nations and United States, and Iran...

Iran Blocks UN Inspectors
 Iran Blocks UN Inspectors 
Feb 22, 2012 5:29 AM CST

Iran Blocks UN Inspectors

Nuclear watchdog barred from key site

(Newser) - The UN's nuclear watchdog is walking away from its visit to Iran after being prevented from visiting a key military site and clarifying "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear program. An International Atomic Energy Agency team was refused permission to inspect the Parchin site south of Tehran,...

US Can't Trace Sold Nuclear Material

Government Accountability Office is concerned

(Newser) - For all the Obama administration’s talk of securing nuclear stockpiles, the US has no ability to track 5,900 pounds of “weapons usable” nuclear material that it has sold to foreign governments over the years, according to a little-noticed Government Accountability Office report last week picked up by...

Iran Offers Inspectors ‘Full Supervision’ of Nukes

First offer from Iran in 2 years a bit fuzzy

(Newser) - International inspectors can have "full supervision" of Iran's nuclear program for five years—if UN sanctions are lifted, according to the first offer to come out of Iran in two years, reports the New York Times . The offer, presented by the head of Iran's atomic energy agency,...

Uranium Tech Could Open Easy Path to the Bomb

But GE says laser enrichment could help US energy security

(Newser) - Advances in uranium enrichment using lasers by General Electric could allow the US conglomerate to process reactor fuel by the ton—but security experts fear the technology could also allow rogue states and terrorist groups to make bomb fuel much more easily, in smaller plants that would be much harder...

New START Treaty Goes Into Effect

Clinton, Lavrov exchange ratification papers in Munich

(Newser) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged ratification papers for the New START treaty with her Russian counterpart at a Munich conference today, sealing the deal on the nuclear arms treaty that limits the number of atomic warheads the former Cold War foes can possess and allows them to inspect each...

Pakistan Has More Than 100 Nukes: Experts

Doubled arsenal surpasses India's

(Newser) - Pakistan likely has more than 100 deployed nuclear weapons, or twice what it had just a few years ago, analysts tell the Washington Post . The country has sped up its uranium and plutonium production, and devised new delivery systems for it, pushing its nuclear capabilities ahead of India’s. That's...

In Single Video, a History of Nuclear Explosions

From 1945 to 1998, there have been 2,053 detonations; watch them all

(Newser) - If your hazy view of history leads you to believe that nuclear detonations ended with Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this five-minute video will set you straight. Created by Isao Hashimoto, "1945-1998" tracks each nuclear detonation that occurred in that 53-year span. Against a blue, two-toned map, red, yellow, green, pink,...

Behind Secret Global Arms Trade, a North Korean Duo

Ship weapons to Iran, Syria, Myanmar

(Newser) - North Korea operates a vast global arms and nuclear materials trading network, and two men related by marriage largely control this expanding operation. In announcing economic sanctions yesterday, the Obama administration named Chun Byung-ho and Yun Ho-jin—likely Chun's son-in-law—who have shipped components for nuclear reactors, long-range missiles, and...

Wow! Obama Saved Us from the Canadians!
Wow! Obama Saved Us from the Canadians!
Charles Krauthammer
Apr 16, 2010 12:11 PM CDT

Wow! Obama Saved Us from the Canadians!

That nuclear summit looked a lot like a waste of time, didn't it?

(Newser) - President Obama convened the biggest meeting of world leaders on US soil since the founding of the UN in 1945. And what did this week's historic gathering accomplish? Well, it generated a nonbinding statement saying that Ukraine, Chile, Mexico, and Canada will get rid of some enriched uranium. “What...

Ahmadinejad Mocks Obama as 'Cowboy'
Ahmadinejad Mocks Obama
as 'Cowboy'
Apr 7, 2010 11:25 AM CDT

Ahmadinejad Mocks Obama as 'Cowboy'

Iran won't change its nuclear ways, US can't 'do a damn thing'

(Newser) - Iran's hardline president today ridiculed President Obama's new nuclear strategy, which turns the US focus away from the Cold War threats and instead aims to stop the spread of atomic weapons to rogue states or terrorists. "American materialist politicians, whenever they are beaten by logic, immediately resort to their...

'Doomsday Clock' Changes Thursday
'Doomsday Clock' Changes Thursday
Jan 12, 2010 11:28 AM CST

'Doomsday Clock' Changes Thursday

Which way unknown, but move will be streamed live online

(Newser) - The hands of the Doomsday Clock, which the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists maintains to represent the severity of nuclear catastrophe, will move this Thursday. In which direction, no one knows, but for the first time everyone can watch the change here during the announcement at 10am EST.

Military Stymies Obama Nuke Reduction Plan

Catches lurk everywhere, from stockpile to strategy

(Newser) - A truculent military and national security apparatus has bogged down President Obama’s push to reconsider the size and mission of the US nuclear arsenal, just as it did during the Clinton administration. Insiders tell the Los Angeles Times that there are multiple areas of concern, including how much of...

UN Demands Iran Freeze Secret Nuke Site

Issues stern rebuke, with approval from Russia and China

(Newser) - The UN’s nuclear watchdog group blasted Iran for operating a secret nuclear site in a new resolution today, its first against Tehran in nearly four years. The International Atomic Energy Agency demanded Iran put an immediate freeze on the uranium enrichment it’s performing at its clandestine Qom site....

Obama: We Will Sanction Iran
 Obama: We Will Sanction Iran 
Nov 19, 2009 7:12 AM CST

Obama: We Will Sanction Iran

Obama ups pressure on Tehran, North Korea in South Korean speech

(Newser) - Barack Obama offered his toughest talk yet on nuclear issues today in a joint press conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak. Obama blasted Iran for turning down a deal to turn their nuclear stockpiles into fuel rods, “for internal political reasons, or perhaps because they are stuck in...

Ahmadinejad Backs Nuke Deal—in Some Form

But Iran won't retreat 'even an iota' on right to program

(Newser) - Iran will not give up its nuclear program but is ready to cooperate with the West, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech today. It's Western powers that have moved, he said in a speech on state television, “from confrontation to interaction” with Iran on the nuclear issue so that...

Obama Had Hand in Secret Talks With Iran

Worked out deal with France, Russia to process uranium

(Newser) - Barack Obama personally stepped in multiple times during the secret multinational talks with Iran that led up to the negotiations that began yesterday in Vienna, White House sources tell Time. When Iran put the word out that it needed enriched uranium plates for its aging research reactor, the Obama administration...

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