nuclear-news

The scientific data gathered through this subcritical nuclear test called Pollux – the 27th such experiment to date – will provide crucial information to maintain effectiveness of U.S. nuclear weapons, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) said in a statement on Thursday. Business Line

Hirotami Yamada, 81, secretary general of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said: “It is depressing that the United States cannot understand how atomic bomb survivors feel, despite our repeated protests.” theaustralian.com

The test “is proof that the United States could use nuclear weapons anytime. Such a country is not qualified to be a world leader,” Yamada said. theaustralian.com

In December 1941, the U.S. government committed to building the world’s first nuclear weapon when President Franklin Roosevelt authorized $2 billion in funding for what came to be known as the Manhattan Project. The first nuclear weapon test took place on July 16, 1945, at the Trinity site near Alamogordo, New Mexico. history.com

A few weeks later, on August 6, 1945, with the U.S. at war against Japan, President Harry Truman authorized the dropping of an atomic bomb named Little Boy over Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, on August 9, a nuclear bomb called Fat Man was dropped over Nagasaki. Two hundred thousand people, according to some estimates, were killed in the attacks on the two cities. history.com

The U.S. is the only country to have used an atomic bomb in war. pbs.org

Between 16 July 1945 and 23 September 1992 the United States of America conducted (by official count) 1,054 nuclear tests, and two nuclear attacks. nuclearweaponarchive.org

In an April 2009 speech, President Obama outlined his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons. Since then, though, the president has taken few steps to implement his objective. On the contrary, his 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, which lays out the role of nuclear weapons in U.S. security strategy, promised to maintain the triad of nuclear weapons favored by every president since Dwight Eisenhower. The Washington Post