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The UN’s IAEA has reported that Iran has 55.6 kilograms (122.6 pounds) of 60% enriched uranium. The body says this means Iran is able to produce up to 25 kg (55 lbs) of 90% enriched uranium, enough for a nuclear bomb. The real story could be even more concerning. Consider the hoary phrase, “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Similarly, there’s more than one way to make a nuclear bomb. The Union of Concerned Scientists has said that it might be possible to produce a fission-type nuclear weapon with as little as 15kg (33 lbs) of highly...

Energoatom, the operator of Ukraine's nuclear power plants, has denied a report from IAEA head Rafael Grossi that there are stocks of 30,000 kg of plutonium and 40,000 kg of enriched uranium at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which is controlled by Russian forces. At a discussion on nuclear safety at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Grossi voiced concerns about the Zaporizhzhia NPP having such nuclear materials and said this was grounds for a visit to the plant by IAEA officials as soon as possible. Grossi said the IAEA is seeking to visit the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear...

Plutonium is generally thought of as an artificial element created by humans, primarily to make the pits of nuclear weapons, but naturally occurring plutonium can be found in ancient rocks. Plutonium 244 is the longest lived isotope of Plutonium, but it's not easy to make, and finding this specific isotope in interstellar dust grains laid down on the ocean floors tells us important things about the formation of the elements that make up the Earth.Based on this paper:60Fe and 244Pu deposited on Earth constrain the r-process yields of recent nearby supernovae A. Wallner et al

A cave ancient Romans believed to be a gate to the underworld was so deadly that it killed all animals who entered its proximity, while not harming the human priests who led them. Millennia later, scientists believe they have figured out why - a concentrated cloud of carbon dioxide that suffocated those who breathed it. Dating back 2,200 years, the cave was rediscovered by archaeologists from the University of Salento back in 2011. It was located in a city called Hierapolis in ancient Phrygia, now Turkey, and it was used for animal sacrifices of bulls led through the Plutonium -...

Scientists have discovered a new type of uranium that is the lightest ever known. The discovery could reveal more about a weird alpha particle that gets ejected from certain radioactive elements as they decay. The newfound uranium, called uranium-214, is an isotope, or a variant of the element, with 30 more neutrons than protons, one fewer neutron than the next-lightest known uranium isotope. Because neutrons have mass, uranium-214 is much lighter than more common uranium isotopes, including uranium-235, which is used in nuclear reactors and has 51 extra neutrons. This newfound isotope isn't just lighter than others, but it also...

AIKEN, SC (WFXG) - According to Savannah River Site officials, a potential security event is in progress that has triggered emergency response activities at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Site barricades are currently closed to incoming traffic. There is no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River Site boundaries. WFXG has a reporter on the way and will update you as we learn

COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday that the State of South Carolina and the United States have reached a settlement to end litigation related to weapons-grade plutonium that was relocated to the Savannah River Site in the early 2000s. According to the settlement, the U.S. will pay South Carolina $600 million immediately and the Department of Energy says they will remove the plutonium by 2037 The settlement ends six years of litigation related to the remaining 9.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. According to the release, South Carolina will allow the Department of Energy 16.5 years...

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic bomb. Now famous as the Trinity Test, the giant explosion was the culmination of the ultra-secret Manhattan project and would within weeks lead to the end of the Second World War and usher in the Atomic Age. On July 16, 1945, at 5:29 AM, the predawn darkness on what was then the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range in the Jornada del Muerto desert about 35 miles southeast of Socorro, New Mexico, was suddenly lit up with the light of a thousand suns....

The U.S Department of Energy has disclosed it shipped a large amount of weapon-grade plutonium to Nevada without the state’s knowledge. used to be test site still has craters Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons In November, Nevada filed a request in a Reno federal court for an injunction to block a shipment of plutonium from South Carolina to the Nevada National Security Site, which is often referred to by its former name, the Nevada Test Site. Turns out, the shipment had already happened.

Workers Taped Together Explosive Pieces By MATT KELLEY, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - Workers at the only U.S. factory for dismantling nuclear weapons risked an explosion this month by taping together broken pieces of high explosive being removed from the plutonium trigger of an old warhead, federal investigators said. The unorthodox handling of the unstable explosive increased the risk that the technicians would drop it and set off a "violent reaction," the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board said Tuesday in a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham (news - web sites). Such a reaction could have "potentially unacceptable consequences," board...

Future aircraft could be powered by lasers and nuclear explosions if Boeing has its way. The aerospace firm claims a new-type of engine could produce energy-efficient thrust by firing lasers at radioactive material, such as deuterium and tritium. The technology could mean that planes and spaceships will require only a fraction of the power to operate, according to a recent patent filed by the company.

Two security experts from the Department of Energy's Idaho National Laboratory drove to San Antonio, Texas, in March 2017 with a sensitive mission: to retrieve dangerous nuclear materials from a nonprofit research lab there. Their task, according to documents and interviews, was to ensure that the radioactive materials did not fall into the wrong hands on the way back to Idaho, where the government maintains a stockpile of nuclear explosive materials for the military and others. To ensure they got the right items, the specialists from Idaho brought radiation detectors and small samples of dangerous materials to calibrate them: specifically,...

Two security experts from the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory drove to San Antonio, Texas, in March 2017 with a sensitive mission: to retrieve dangerous nuclear materials from a nonprofit research lab there. Their task was to ensure that the radioactive materials did not fall into the wrong hands on the way back to Idaho, where the government maintains a stockpile of nuclear explosive materials for the military and others. To ensure they got the right items, the specialists from Idaho brought radiation detectors and small samples of dangerous materials to calibrate them: specifically, a plastic-covered disk of plutonium,...

ran's nuclear reactors have been a tension point since the nuclear deal was put in place due to the Islamic Republic's production of heavy water—a nuclear enriched byproduct—beyond the amounts allowable under the agreement. In order to ensure Iran was not caught breaching restrictions on heavy water under the deal, the Obama administration 'used taxpayer money to purchase Iran's excess heavy water', a policy that was immediately reversed by the Trump administration. "The Obama administration's purchase of Iranian heavy water gave away the game," said one senior GOP congressional aide who was closely involved in the Iran deal debate. "The...

A small amount of radioactive, weapons-grade plutonium about the size of a U.S. quarter is missing from an Idaho university that was using it for research, leading federal officials on Friday to propose an $8,500 fine. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Idaho State University can't account for about a 30th of an ounce (1 gram) of the material that's used in nuclear reactors and to make nuclear bombs. The amount is too small to make a nuclear bomb, agency spokesman Victor Dricks said, but could be used to make a dirty bomb to spread radioactive contamination. "The NRC has...

BREAKING NEWS WASHINGTON STATE TUNNEL COLLAPSE TRIGGERS ALERT AT PLUTONIUM PLANT Hundreds of workers took cover after a tunnel in a Washington plutonium finishing plant collapsed Tuesday morning. The tunnel at the Hanford plant near Richland was full of contaminated particles, including radioactive trains that transport fuel rods, KING5 reported.

Hundreds of workers were in "take cover" position after a tunnel in a plutonium finishing plant collapsed in Hanford early Tuesday morning. The tunnel was full of highly contaminated materials such as hot radioactive trains that transport fuel rods.

It is only a matter of time before Pakistan can launch short-range missiles to counter conventional attacksNew Delhi - A study of Google satellite images and information from other intelligence sources by US nuclear scientists Hans Kristensen and Robert Norris released earlier this week contains startling revelations: contrary to the conditions laid down by the US when it sold Pakistan F-16 fighters, the US jets, along with the Pak air force's French Mirages, are now nuclear-enabled.Speaking exclusively to DNA, Hans Kristensen, co-author of the 'Nuclear Notebook on Pakistani Nuclear Forces' released November 16 acknowledged that despite the study, US strategic...

… Yukiya Amano of the International Atomic Energy Agency referred to last week’s IAEA finding that Iran overstepped limits on the amount of heavy water it is allowed to possess for the second time since the agreement’s implementation in January. Heavy water is a concern because it is used to cool reactors that can produce substantial amounts of plutonium. That, in turn, can be applied to making the fissile core of nuclear warheads. …

Russia Suspends US Plutonium Disposal Agreement http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-suspends-us-plutonium-disposal-agreement-2425250 Russia Suspends US Plutonium Disposal Agreement By Himanshu Goenka @HimGoJourno On 10/03/16 AT 7:37 AM Russia has suspended its 16-year-old agreement with the United States to dispose weapons-grade plutonium, citing “Washington’s unfriendly actions toward Russia, according to Tass news agency. A decree to that effect was issued by President Vladimir Putin. An official notification said the reason behind the decree was “a fundamental change of the circumstances and the emergence of a threat to strategic stability as a result of unfriendly actions by the United States towards Russia and the United States’ inability...