nukes

Secrets of the Manhattan Project Leaked 1500 Times During World War II

The World War II program to develop an atomic bomb was the largest secret project ever undertaken by the U.S. government. But newly-declassified documents reveal how it hard it was to keep things secret as the weapon neared completion. Information leaks were everywhere, even in church sermons. Trinity Test plutonium bomb image courtesy of Truman…

Which Lucky State Will Get a Useless $4 Billion Defense System?

At the urging of Congress, military officials have begun considering East Coast sites for an anti-ballistic missile system that doesn’t work and the Pentagon doesn’t want. But members of Congress can’t let such details stand in the way. Now states are vying to score the $4 billion allocated for this dubious effort. The missile defense…

Federal Employee Gets Fired After Writing An Article Criticizing Nukes

For 17 years, James Doyle was a nuclear policy specialist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Then he wrote an article that made the case for getting rid of nuclear weapons. After that, his computer was seized, he was accused of releasing classified information, and then he was fired. What happened? Top image: French Test,…

NASA Is Making Nukes More Expensive

When NASA terminated the space shuttle program, it also deprived solid fuel manufacturers of their main customer. The result is a massive spike in propellant prices, which is increasing the cost of the U.S.-UK Trident nuclear program. Both the space shuttle and the submarine-launched Trident rely on booster engines containing a powerful solid rocket fuel.…

​The Real Reason the Pentagon Has Downgraded the Iran Missile Threat

An unclassified excerpt of a Defense Department document reveals a subtle, but significant, change in language, which suggests that Iran’s intercontinental ballistic missile technology does not pose an imminent threat to the U.S. This year’s Annual Report on Military Power of Iran opens with a two-page executive summary that notes, “Iran has publicly stated it…

Is the Government Responsible For Sheltering You From Nukes?

“EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT SHELTERS” proclaimed Life magazine in its January 12, 1962 issue. Specifically, everybody was talking about nuclear fallout shelters, since both the United States and the Soviet Union had developed weapons which could unleash unimaginable destruction upon the Earth. The living might envy the dead if nuclear war broke out between the two…

One of Russia’s Last Remaining Early-Warning Satellites Just Died

The Russian Ministry of Defense has announced that its only geostationary early-warning satellite — the Cosmos-2479, launched two years ago — is no longer functioning. With just two other observation satellites left in orbit, the chances of a false-alarm nuclear attack just escalated. An incident that occurred 20 years ago helps illustrate why this news…

Congress Won’t Decommission Nuke Silos, Which Is Dumb And Dangerous

The closure of military bases is fraught with political peril, since they pump millions of dollars into state economies. So, when members of Congress learned that the reduction of 50 nuclear-armed nuclear missiles could shut down Air Force bases, they pushed for a compromise to keep them open. The number of land-based nuclear missiles is…

NASA’s Decisions May Affect The Future Of The U.S. Nuclear Arsenal

If NASA decides to use liquid fuel for its new boosters, it could be a deathblow for domestic solid fuel manufacturing. That worries the Navy, since roughly 70 percent of U.S. nukes will soon be deployed aboard submarines—on missiles that use solid fuel. Under the terms of the New START treaty with Russia, the U.S.…

Extraordinary Photos of Everyday Life in Oak Ridge, the Secret City

Here’s a collection of rare historical photos from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, a town established by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1942 on an isolated farm. It was a secret location that became one of the most significant sites of the Manhattan Project. Signs at Graphics Department, 1943-1944 Workers load uranium slugs into the X-10…

How Historians Are Using Nuclear Fallout to Find Fake Art

Today’s modern art forger is capable of producing fake works of art so perfect that even trained experts are unable to spot them. Even down to the most minute details of the pigments, binders, and canvass, these fakes are almost better than the works they’re based on. But thanks to a byproduct of the Atomic…

Failed Nuclear Weapons Recycling Program Could Put Us All in Danger

Some government screw-ups are so epic that they require decades of effort. Such was the case for the recently cancelled plan to convert surplus weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel. Not only did the U.S. waste $4 billion dollars, it increased the likelihood that terrorists could obtain bomb-making materials. It sounded like a good idea at…

What The Dragons On Game Of Thrones Teach Us About Nuclear Weapons

Nuclear winter is coming. As George R.R. Martin has acknowledged, “dragons are the nuclear deterrent” in his epic fantasy. One security analyst agrees, and argues that Game of Thrones teaches us a great deal about the benefits and dangers bestowed upon nations who wield these ultimate weapons of destructions. Writing in the Bulletin of the…

​​If There’s A Nuclear Arms Race In Asia, Don’t Blame North Korea

In a recent interview, South Korean President Park Geun-hye said, “It would be difficult for us to prevent a nuclear domino from occurring in this area,” were North Korea to conduct another test. But one analyst argues that if a nuclear arms race were to occur, it’s China that should be singled out for blame.…

The 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base flunked a test when security forces were unable to regain control of a nuclear missile that was captured during a hostile takeover simulation. Since only the president has the launch codes, the main security concern would be the fissile material inside the warhead.

The Ten Most Bizarre Ideas For Using Nuclear Weapons

When you’re a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. And if you have several thousand nuclear warheads just lying around, it seems a shame not to put them to good use. Here are ten of the most bizarre proposals for nuclear bomb use over the decades. 1) “Pillars of Fire in the Valley of…

America’s Tactical Nukes Are Worth Twice Their Weight in Gold

The GBU-57A-B is by far America’s biggest bunker buster, but it’s not actually our most powerful one. That acclaim goes to the deep diving, hard hitting, supersonic B-61 tactical nuclear bomb. And we’re about to spend more than $11 billion to ensure they stay on the front lines through the middle of the next decade.…

America’s Most Contaminated Nuclear Site Is Vulnerable To Earthquakes

Nearly 2,000 capsules containing radioactive waste at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation need to be relocated. That’s because the site was built in an area that’s prone to earthquakes. How could this happen? The facility, located in in southeastern Washington State, was the world’s largest producer of plutonium during the Cold War. Today, it is America’s…

The Guardians Of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal Don’t Keep Very Good Records

An investigation conducted by the Energy Department has revealed that the National Nuclear Security Administration is failing to keep complete and accurate records on nuclear weapons in the U.S. stockpile. The scathing 19-page report, available on the website of Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General, warns that the range of problems “may ultimately increase costs…

Orange Herald: The Bomb Behind Britain’s Worst Nuclear Disaster

In the aftermath of the Second World War, it quickly became evident to the British government that Americans had no intention of sharing their newly acquired nuclear weapons technology despite the UK’s assistance in the Manhattan Project. As such the British government set about building its own atomic arsenal which eventually led to the UK’s…