US conducts limited nuclear test
The test, conducted Wednesday in Nevada, aims to gather scientific data that will "provide crucial information to maintain the safety and effectiveness of the nation's nuclear weapons," the Energy Department said in a statement.
Such tests "ensure that we can support a safe, secure and effective stockpile without having to conduct underground testing," said National Nuclear Security Administration head Thomas D'Agostino.
Staff from the Nevada National Security Site, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories conducted the experiment, known as Pollux.
It was the 27th subcritical experiment to date. The last one, known as Barolo B, took place in February 2011.
Subcritical nuclear tests, which do not trigger a self-sustaining chain reaction that would create a nuclear explosion, examine how plutonium behaves when it is shocked by forces produced by chemical high explosives.
The United States halted underground nuclear tests in 1992. By then, it had conducted 1,032 tests since 1945, according to UN figures.
Wednesday's test passed with little notice in the United States but drew sharp criticism from Hiroshima, the Japanese city destroyed by the first-ever nuclear weapon used in an armed conflict.
Hiroshima was struck by the first of two US nuclear bombs dropped on the country near the end of World War II.
"I wonder why President (Barack) Obama, who said he would seek a nuclear-free world, carried out the test," Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui told reporters.
"I wish he would take into account the feelings of the people of Hiroshima when making policy decisions," he said.
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."
The test "is proof that the United States could use nuclear weapons anytime. Such a country is not qualified to be a world leader," he said.
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@Abdullah: I will recommend you to read Jane’s defense weekly So, your source of knowledge and believing are limited to whatever western media manipulates!
@cautious: You read that it a comic book or a conspiracy website?
Don’t be childish; you need to update your knowledge!! Don’t you have the information about what kind of unconventional lethal weapons were used during the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions? There are undeniable evidences for use of controlled nuclear weapons during the initial phase of attacks. Currently, Americans are into a stage where they planning to deploy SMART nuclear weapons by using drone technology.
You read that it a comic book or a conspiracy website? Last time I looked 3/4 of the USA nuclear force was mobile with over half on nuclear submarines.
@Rana: Pakistan replied "Accordingly" ?............ I will recommend you to read Jane's defence weekly which is an independent group of journalists giving reports on defence activities around the globe. To begin with, It takes months of preperation for any country to do such test and Pakistan did it in 15 days. The reason why Pakistan was able to pull it so quick was because it already had prepared for test with help of China, India got a scent and it preferred to be proactive rather than reactionary and hence rushed to test. As long as Muslims do not impose their ideas and way of living on others, as long as they can learn to live in harmony and let religious freedoms to others , they don';t have to worry about any nukes in world.
Americans detonated 15 mega ton Castle Bravo to terrorize USSR, they replied with a 50 Ton Tsar Bomba. India conducted nuclear tests in the same manner and Pakistan replied accordingly. Keeping arms as deterrence for existence and security sounds acceptable to some extent. US is mastering in super controlled nuclear devices in order to make them deployable rather than useless stacking, which is alarming specifically for the Muslim World.