nuclear proliferation news stories on Newser

US Might Allow Iran Some Uranium Enrichment

Mark Russell — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 06:45:29 CDT

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

Rob Quinn — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:29:40 CST

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, where it suspects...

US Can't Trace Sold Nuclear Material

Kevin Spak — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 13:20:30 CDT

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 Wired . Instead,...

Iran Offers Inspectors ‘Full Supervision’ of Nukes

Mark Russell — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:04:19 CDT

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, was a bit...

Uranium Tech Could Open Easy Path to the Bomb

Mark Russell — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:28:01 CDT

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

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 09:07:24 CST

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

Matt Cantor — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 10:39:27 CST

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 unlikely...

In Single Video, a History of Nuclear Explosions

Kate Schwartz — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 10:27:31 CST

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, and...

Behind Secret Global Arms Trade, a North Korean Duo

Jane Yager — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 09:25:00 CDT

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...