The bomb was no threat to be set off since "the plutonium was separate from the bomb casing and the explosives that caused the implosion," Stephen Schwartz, the author of Atomic Audit: The Costs ...

Nuclear weapons are incredibly complex, but, very roughly, they can be divided into two parts: a "nuclear" part and a "bomb" part. The "nuclear" part is the chunk of uranium or plutonium that ...

As U.S. turns its back on security commitments, Germany faces one of the most profound shifts in its post-war defense policy.

They designed two bombs, one using uranium (called "Little Boy") and one using plutonium ("Fat Man"). By early 1945, the plants at Oak Ridge and Hanford had produced enough raw material for testing.

Britain’s Trident nuclear missiles are the backbone of its nuclear force. The problem? Britain doesn’t even own the ...

At 11:02 a.m., the moment the plutonium bomb exploded above the southern Japanese city, participants observed a moment of silence as a peace bell tolled. More than 2,000 people, including ...

Santa Fe County commissioners plan to raise concerns about the impacts a potential Los Alamos National Laboratory expansion could have on regional resources in response to a recent environmental ...

So why not the atomic bomb? Nazi Germany ... common uranium 238 would be transmuted into "element 94," now called plutonium. Like uranium 235, element 94 would be an incredibly powerful explosive.

After helping to engineer the plutonium bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, ending the war, Seaborg returned to Berkeley. He continued to make new elements, with less dramatic applications ...