Meanwhile, 3,200km away, at the Los Alamos national laboratory north of Santa Fe in New Mexico, on the same site that developed and assembled the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, work is being ramped up to produce plutonium "pits" - spherical shells about the size of bowling balls that are a vital component of warheads in the US nuclear arsenal.
Both in their own way tell the story of the nuclear age, but one is historic housekeeping-in 1939, 1,200 tons of high-grade uranium ore was purchased and transferred from the Belgian Congo to Staten Island, where there are still traces of radioactive contamination - the other is far more controversial and current.
Increasing geopolitical tensions with Russia and a militarily expansionist China are behind a $1.5tn US effort to modernise the US nuclear arsenal, including tens of billions of dollars to replace aging, silo-launched Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missiles stationed in Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota with a successor, the Sentinel.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 01, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 01, 2023-Ausgabe von The Guardian Weekly.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Beauty, shock and horror
At the British Museum, Hew Locke places his work alongside art and artefacts plundered by colonisers from the peoples and cultures they destroyed
Sleep on it pon
Everyone wants a good night's rest-but the more you obsess over it, the more elusive it becomes. Anita Chaudhuri enters the nightmarish, data-driven world of orthosomnia
JOURNALIST OR RUSSIAN SPY? THE STRANGE CASE OF PABLO GONZÁLEZ
while reporting on Russia's covert operation to annex Crimea, I spotted a familiar figure. With his muscular build and shiny shaved head, Pablo González was easy to recognise from afar.
'My hero' Worldwide solidarity for Pelicot's courage
She has been hailed as a feminist hero across France, commended for her courage at rallies across the country and applauded by supporters each time she has entered or left the courtroom in the southern city of Avignon.
Revealed The international 'race science' network funded by US tech boss
Group promoting 'dangerous' scientific racism ideology teamed up with German rightwing extremist, secret recordings show
Residents count cost of a climate risk hotspot
Damage to northern region ignites debate in acountry where just 6% are insured against natural disaster
A new England The next coach is German and it really, really doesn't matter
While objectivity has never had much place in English football, Thomas Tuchel's appointment as the new national team coach represents a significant departure in two obvious ways.
Are Earth's carbon sinks collapsing?
Scientists fear that as it heats up, the planet is losing its natural ability to absorb CO2 through oceans, forests and soil
UK is waging proxy war, says Russian ambassador
Moscow's ambassador to London has said the UK is waging a proxy war against Russia while predicting the \"end of Ukraine\".
Small and lethal Adapted drones carrying explosives 'hunt' civilians
Sasha Ustenko has survived three attacks by the Russian drones that stalk the streets of Kherson carrying fragmentation grenades to drop on anything that moves.