New details on nuclear weapons program bared

In a continuing effort to be more candid about Department of Energy nuclear weapons programs, Energy Secretary Hazel R. CXLeary recently declassified a substantial amount of information. On June 27, she revealed details about total U.S. weapons-grade uranium production, testing of a bomb made of reactorgrade plutonium, radiation experiments conducted on humans since the 1920s, and underground and atmospheric nuclear weapons tests. O'Leary explains the new revelations by saying thousands of people in meetings across the country this year have told her that "openness in government is very important. We are responding today in a manner that both satisfies the strong public interest and respects critical national security requirements." The total U.S. production of highly enriched weapons-grade uranium is 994 metric tons, O'Leary says, far more than the 700 metric tons previously estimated by outside experts. Almost 259 metric tons remain in the U.S. stockpile, most of it stored at the DOE facility in Oak ...