On Sept. 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by Soviet jet fighters.

On Sept. 1, 1983, Korean Air Lines Flight 007 was shot down by Soviet jet fighters. On the 26th, a Soviet early warning station under the command of Stanislav Petrov falsely detected 5 inbound intercontinental ballistic missiles from the US. Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan Petrov correctly assessed the situation as a false alarm, and hence did not report his finding to his superiors. It is quite possible that his actions prevented "World War III", as the Soviet policy at that time was immediate nuclear response upon discovering inbound ballistic missiles. The world came unusually close to nuclear war - although perhaps not as close as during the Cuban Missile Crisis - when the Soviet Union thought that the NATO military exercise Able Archer 83 was a ruse or "cover up" to begin a nuclear first strike. HP 646578-001 CPU Fan The Soviets responded by raising readiness and preparing their nuclear arsenal for immediate use. Soviet fears of an attack ceased once the exercise concluded without incident. Although the dissolution of the Soviet Union ended the Cold War and greatly reduced tensions between the United States and the Russian Federation, the Soviet Union's formal successor state, SONY VAIO PCG-6L2L CPU Fan both countries remained in a "nuclear stand-off" due to the continuing presence of a very large number of deliverable nuclear warheads on both sides. Additionally, the end of the Cold War led the United States to become increasingly concerned with the development of nuclear technology by other nations outside of the former Soviet Union. Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349 CPU Fan In 1995, a branch of the U.S. Strategic Command produced an outline of forward-thinking strategies in the document "Essentials of Post–Cold War Deterrence". As an effect of the 9/11 attacks on the USA, American forces immediately increased their readiness to the highest level in 28 years, closing the blast doors of the NORAD's Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center for the first time due to a non-exercise event.  DELL yy529 CPU Fan But unlike similar increases during the Cold War, Russia immediately decided to stand down a large military exercise in the Arctic region, in order to minimize the risk of incidents, rather than following suit.[38]The former chair of the United Nations disarmament committee stated that there are more than 16,000 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons ready for deployment and another 14,000 in storage, HP Pavilion dv7-3020es CPU Fan with the U.S. having nearly 7,000 ready for use and 3,000 in storage, and Russia having about 8,500 ready for use and 11,000 in storage. In addition, China is thought to possess about 400 nuclear weapons, Britain about 200, France about 350, India about 80-100, and Pakistan 100-110. HP G62-369TX CPU Fan North Korea is confirmed as having nuclear weapons, though it is not known how many, with most estimates between 1 and 10. Israel is also widely believed topossess usable nuclear weapons. NATO has stationed about 480 American nuclear weapons in Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and Turkey, and several other nations are thought to be in pursuit of an arsenal of their own.[39] HP 13.V1.BJ195.F.GN CPU Fan A key development in nuclear warfare throughout the 2000s and early 2010s is the proliferation of nuclear weapons to the developing world, with India andPakistan both publicly testing several nuclear devices, and North Korea conducting an underground nuclear test on October 9, 2006. Toshiba Satellite L675D-S7016 CPU Fan The U.S. Geological Survey measured a 4.2 magnitude earthquake in the area where the North Korean test is said to have occurred. A further test was announced by the North Korean government on May 25, 2009.[40] Iran, meanwhile, has embarked on a nuclear program which - while officially for civilian purposes - has come under close scrutiny by the United Nations and many individual states. HP Pavilion dv7-1451nr CPU Fan Recent studies undertaken by the CIA cite the enduring India-Pakistan conflict as the one "flash point" most likely to escalate into a nuclear war. During theKargil War in 1999, Pakistan came close to using its nuclear weapons in case the conventional military situation underwent further deterioration.[41] HP G62-a57SG CPU Fan Pakistan's foreign minister had even warned that it would "use any weapon in our arsenal", hinting at a nuclear strike against India.[42] The statement was condemned by the international community, with Pakistan denying it later on. This conflict remains the only war (of any sort) between two declared nuclear powers. SONY Vaio VGN-NR31S/S CPU Fan The 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff again stoked fears of nuclear war between the two countries. Despite these very serious and relatively recent threats, relations between India and Pakistan have been improving somewhat over the last few years. A bus line directly linking Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir has recently been established. IBM 91P9252 CPU Fan However, with the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, India currently will not rule out war with Pakistan. Another potential geopolitical issue which is considered particularly worrisome by military analysts is a possible conflict between the United States and thePeople's Republic of China over Taiwan. Toshiba Satellite M70-122 CPU Fan Although economic forces are thought to have decreased somewhat the possibility of a military conflict, there remains worry about the increasing military buildup of China (China is rapidly increasing their naval capacity), and that any move toward Taiwan independence could potentially spin out of control. SONY UDQFWPH22FQU CPU Fan Israel is thought to possess somewhere between one hundred and four hundred nuclear warheads. It has been asserted that the submarines which Israel received from Germany have been adapted to carry missiles with nuclear warheads, so as to give Israel a second strike capability.[43] Israel has been involved in wars with its neighbors in the Middle East HP Pavilion dv6-2150ei CPU Fan (and with other "non-state actors") on numerous prior occasions, and its small geographic size and population could mean that, in the event of future wars, the Israeli military might have very little time to react to an invasion or other major threat. Such a situation could escalate to nuclear warfare very quickly in some scenarios. HP G42-367TU CPU Fan In the Persian Gulf, Iran appears to many observers to be in the process of developing a nuclear weapon, which has greatly heightened fears of a nuclear conflict and arms races in the Middle East—either with Israel or with one or more Arab states (a "Shia-Sunni" conflict). On March 7, 2013, North Korea threatened the United States with a preemptive nuclear strike.[44] Toshiba Satellite P100-238 CPU Fan On April 9, North Korea urged foreigners to leave South Korea, stating that both countries were on the verge of nuclear war.[45] On April 12, North Korea stated that a nuclear war was unavoidable. The country declared Japan as its first target. The above examples envisage nuclear warfare at a strategic level, i.e. total war. However, nuclear powers have the ability to undertake more limited engagements. ACER Aspire 5739 CPU Fan "Sub-strategic use" includes the use of either "low-yield" tactical nuclear weapons, or of variable yield strategic nuclear weapons in a very limited role, as compared to battlefield exchanges of larger-yield strategic nuclear weapons. This was described by the UK Parliamentary Defence Select Committee as "the launch of one or a limited number of missiles against an adversary as a means of conveying a political message, IBM ThinkPad T40 2678 CPU Fan warning or demonstration of resolve".[47] It is believed that all current nuclear weapons states possess tactical nuclear weapons, with the exception of the United Kingdom, which decommissioned its tactical warheads in 1998. However, the UK does possess scalable-yield strategic warheads, and this technology tends to blur the difference between "strategic", IBM Thinkpad T43 CPU Fan "sub-strategic", and "tactical" use or weapons. American, French and British nuclear submarines are believed to carry at least some missiles with these types of high-tech warheads for this purpose - potentially allowing a strike as low as one kiloton (or less) against a single target. Only the People's Republic of Chinaand the Republic of India have declarative, unqualified, unconditional "no first use" nuclear weapons policies. IBM ThinkPad T43 2668 CPU Fan Commodore Tim Hare, former Director of Nuclear Policy at the British Ministry of Defence, has described "sub-strategic use" as offering the Government "an extra option in the escalatory process before it goes for an all-out strategic strike which would deliver unacceptable damage".[48] However, this sub-strategic capacity has been criticized as potentially increasing the "acceptability" of using nuclear weapons. IBM ThinkPad T43 1871 CPU Fan The related consideration of new generations of limited-yield nuclear weapons by the United States (i.e. "bunker busters") has also alarmed anti-nuclear groups, who believe it will make the use of nuclear weapons "more acceptable" or likely. Also of note is that the United States adopted a policy in 1996 of allowing the targeting of its nuclear weapons at non-state actors ("terrorists") armed withweapons of mass destruction. ACER Travelmate 8104WLMI CPU Fan Nuclear terrorism by non-state organizations or actors (even individuals) is a largely unknown and understudied factor in nuclear deterrence thinking, as states possessing nuclear weapons are susceptible to retaliation in kind, while sub- or trans-state actors may be less so. The collapse of the Soviet Union has given rise to the possibility that former Soviet nuclear weapons might become available on the black market (so-called 'loose nukes'). DELL Latitude E4300 CPU Fan While no warheads are known to have been mislaid, it has been alleged that at least some very small or suitcase-size bombs might be unaccounted for. A number of other concerns have been expressed about the security of nuclear weapons in other, newer nuclear powers with relatively less stable governments, such as Pakistan, ASUS F80S CPU Fan but in each case, the fears have been addressed to some extent by statements and evidence provided by those nations, as well as cooperative programs between nations. Worry remains, however, in many circles that a relative decrease in security of nuclear weapons has emerged in recent years, HP Pavilion dv5-1058eo CPU Fan and that terrorists or others may attempt to exert control over (or use) nuclear weapons, militarily applicable technology, or nuclear materials and fuel. Another possible nuclear terrorism threat are devices designed to disperse radioactive materials over a large area using conventional explosives, called dirty bombs. The detonation of a "dirty bomb" would not cause a nuclear explosion, IBM 13N5182 CPU Fan nor would it release enough radiation to kill or injure a lot of people. However, it could cause severe disruption and require potentially very costly decontamination procedures and increased spending on security measures. The predictions of the effects of a major countervalue nuclear exchange include millions of city dweller deaths within a short period of time. IBM Thinkpad T30 2366-AA3 CPU Fan Some predictions argue that a full-scale nuclear war could eventually bring about the extinction of the human race; however such pessimistic predictions, assuming total war with nuclear arsenals at Cold war highs, have not been without considerable criticism.[5] Nonetheless, a number of Cold War publications advocate preparations that can allegedly be taken in order to allow the majority of civilians to survive even a total nuclear war. IBM Thinkpad T30 CPU Fan Among the most famous of these is the aptly namedNuclear War Survival Skills.[51] To avoid injury and death from a nuclear weapons heat flash and blast effects, the two most far ranging prompt effects of nuclear weapons, schoolchildren were taught to duck and cover by the early cold war film of the same name. HP 535438-001 CPU Fan Such advice is once again being given in case of nuclear terrorist attacks.[52] Prussian blue, or "Radiogardase", is stockpiled in the US, along with potassium iodide and DPTA as pharmaceuticals useful in treating internal exposure to harmful radioisotopes in fallout.[53] DELL Inspiron N3010 CPU Fan Publications on adapting to a changing diet and supplying nutritional food sources following a nuclear war, with particular focus on agricultural radioecology, include Nutrition in the postattack environment by the RAND corporation.[54] Many countries maintain plans for continuity of government following a nuclear attack or similar disasters. HP Pavilion dv6-3070tx CPU Fan The Soviet government believed they could win, not only a strategic nuclear war, which they planned to absorb with their extensive Civil Defense schemes and infrastructure dispersal,but also win the conventional war that they predicted would follow after their strategic nuclear arsenal had been depleted.[58] IBM 41W5269 CPU Fan A number of other countries around the world have taken significant efforts to maximize their survival prospects in the event of large calamities, both natural and manmade. For example, metro stations in Pyongyang, North Korea, were constructed 110 metres (360 ft) below ground, and were designed to serve as nuclear shelters in the event of war, with each station entrance built with thick steel blast doors.[59][60] ASUS A8H CPU Fan While examples of privately funded fallout shelters are theArk Two Shelter in Ontario, Canada, one of the best known privately constructed autonomous shelters, with a focus on post-war networking and reconstruction.[61]In Switzerland, the majority of homes have an underground blast and fallout shelter. The country has an overcapacity of such shelters and can accommodate slightly more than the nation's population size. SONY UDQFRZH13CF0 CPU Fan Nuclear weapons possess enormous destructive power derived from nuclear fission or combined fission and fusionreactions. Starting with scientific breakthroughs made during the 1930s, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada collaborated during World War II in what was called the Manhattan Project to counter the suspected Nazi German atomic bomb project. HP COMPAQ 2510P CPU Fan In August 1945 two fission bombs were dropped on Japan ending the Pacific War. The Soviet Unionstarted development shortly thereafter with their own atomic bomb project, and not long after that both countries developed even more powerful fusion weapons known as "hydrogen bombs." In the first decades of the 20th century, physics was revolutionised with developments in the understanding of the nature ofatoms. APPLE 661-4951 CPU Fan In 1898, Pierre and Marie Curie discovered that pitchblende, an ore of uranium, contained a substance—which they namedradium—that emitted large amounts of radioactivity. Ernest Rutherford and Frederick Soddy identified that atoms were breaking down and turning into different elements. Hopes were raised among scientists and laymen that the elements around us could contain tremendous amounts of unseen energy, waiting to be harnessed. HP Pavilion dv6-3034ca CPU Fan H. G. Wells was inspired to write about atomic weapons in a 1914 novel, The World Set Free, which appeared shortly before the First World War. In a 1924 article, Winston Churchill speculated about the possible military implications: "Might not a bomb no bigger than an orange be found to possess a secret power to destroy a whole block of buildings—nay to concentrate the force of a thousand tons of cordite and blast a township at a stroke?"[1] HP G56-126NR CPU Fan In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany and it quickly became unsafe for Jewish scientists to remain in the country. Leó Szilárd fled to London where he proposed, and in 1934 patented, the idea of a nuclear chain reaction vianeutrons. The patent also introduced the term critical mass to describe the minimum amount of material required to sustain the chain reaction and its potential to cause an explosion. Compaq Presario C556CA CPU Fan (British patent 630,726.) He subsequently assigned the patent to theBritish Admiralty so that it could be covered by the Official Secrets Act.[2] In a very real sense, Szilárd was the father of the atomic bomb academically. Also in 1934, Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie discovered that artificial radioactivity could be induced in stable elements by bombarding them with alpha particles; SONY Vaio VGN-NR360E CPU Fan Enrico Fermi reported similar results when bombarding uranium with neutrons. In December 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann sent a manuscript to Naturwissenschaften reporting that they had detected the element barium after bombarding uranium with neutrons.[3] HP Pavilion dv5170us CPU Fan Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch correctly interpreted these results as being due to the splitting of the uranium atom. (Frisch confirmed this experimentally on January 13, 1939.[4]) They gave the process the name "fission" because of its similarity to the splitting of a cell into two new cells.[5] SONY Vaio VPC-EE3WFX/WI CPU Fan Even before it was published, news of Meitner’s and Frisch’s interpretation crossed the Atlantic.[6] Scientists at Columbia University decided to replicate the experiment and on January 25, 1939, conducted the first nuclear fission experiment in the United States[7] in the basement of Pupin Hall.[8] HP G56-126NR CPU Fan The following year, they identified the active component of uranium as being the rare isotope uranium-235.[9] Uranium appears in nature primarily in two isotopes: uranium-238 and uranium-235. When the nucleus of uranium-235 absorbs a neutron, it undergoes nuclear fission, releasing energy and, on average, 2.5 neutrons. HP 3MLX8TATP20 CPU Fan Because uranium-235 releases more neutrons than it absorbs, it can support a chain reaction and so is described as fissile. Uranium-238, on the other hand, is not fissile as it does not normally undergo fission when it absorbs a neutron. By the time Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, beginning World War II, many of Europe's top scientists had already fled the imminent conflict. SONY Vaio VGN-NW240F/S CPU Fan Physicists on both sides were well aware of the possibility of utilizing nuclear fission as a weapon, but no one was quite sure how it could be done. In August 1939, concerned that Germany might have its own project to develop fission-based weapons, Albert Einstein signed a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him of the threat.[10] SONY Vaio VPC-EB1Z0E/B CPU Fan Roosevelt responded by setting up the Uranium Committee under Lyman James Briggs but, with little initial funding ($6,000), progress was slow. It was not until the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941, that the U.S. decided to commit the necessary resources.[11] Organized research first began in Britain as part of the Tube Alloys project. Compaq Presario CQ60-514NR CPU Fan The Maud Committee was set up following the work of Frisch and Rudolf Peierls who calculated uranium-235's critical mass and found it to be much smaller than previously thought which meant that a deliverable bomb should be possible.[12] In the February 1940 Frisch–Peierls memorandum they stated that: Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800 CPU Fan "The energy liberated in the explosion of such a super-bomb...will, for an instant, produce a temperature comparable to that of the interior of the sun. The blast from such an explosion would destroy life in a wide area. The size of this area is difficult to estimate, but it will probably cover the centre of a big city." ASUS G2P CPU Fan Edgar Sengier, a director of Shinkolobwe Mine which produced by far the highest quality uranium ore in the world, had become aware of uranium's possible use in a bomb. In late 1940, fearful of its seizure by the Germans, he shipped the mine's entire stockpile of ore to a warehouse on Staten Island.[13] Compaq Presario CQ60-430SA CPU Fan For 18 months British research outpaced the American but by mid-1942, it became apparent that the industrial effort required was beyond Britain's already stretched wartime economy.[14]:204 In September 1942, General Leslie Groves was appointed to lead the U.S. project which became known as the Manhattan Project. DELL BFB0505HA CPU Fan Two of his first acts were to obtain authorization to assign the highest priority AAA rating on necessary procurements, and to put in train the purchase of all 1,250 tons of the Shinkolobwe ore.[13][15] The Tube Alloys project was quickly overtaken by the U.S. effort[14] and after Roosevelt and Churchill signed theQuebec Agreement in 1943, it was relocated and amalgamated into the Manhattan Project. HP Pavilion dv5-1272et CPU Fan With a scientific team led by J. Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan project brought together some of the top scientific minds of the day, including many exiles from Europe, with the production power of American industry for the goal of producing fission-based explosive devices before Germany. Britain and the U.S. agreed to pool their resources and information for the project, Toshiba AB7005HX-SB3 CPU Fan but the other Allied power, the Soviet Union (USSR), was not informed. The U.S. made an unprecedented investment in the project which at the time was the largest industrial enterprise ever seen,[14] spread across more than 30 sites in the U.S. and Canada. Scientific development was centralized in a secret laboratory at Los Alamos. Toshiba Satellite A500-18T CPU Fan For a fission weapon to operate, there must be sufficient fissile material to support a chain reaction, a critical mass. To separate the fissile uranium-235 isotope from the non-fissile uranium-238, two methods were developed which took advantage of the fact that uranium-238 has a slightly greater atomic mass: electromagnetic separation and gaseous diffusion. HP Pavilion dv5-2135dx CPU Fan Another secret site was erected at rural Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the large-scale production and purification of the rare isotope, which required considerable investment. At the time, K-25, one of the Oak Ridge facilities, was the world's largest factory under one roof. The Oak Ridge site employed tens of thousands of people at its peak, most of whom had no idea what they were working on. ASUS EEE PC 1201NL CPU Fan Although uranium-238 cannot be used for the initial stage of an atomic bomb, when it absorbs a neutron, it becomes uranium-239 which decays into neptunium-239, and finally the relatively stable plutonium-239, an element that does not exist naturally on Earth, but is fissile like uranium-235. SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D/T CPU Fan After Fermi achieved the world's first sustained and controlled nuclear chain reaction with the creation of the first atomic pile, massive reactors were secretly constructed at what is now known as Hanford Site to transform uranium-238 into plutonium for a bomb. The simplest form of nuclear weapon is a gun-type fission weapon, where a sub-critical mass would be shot at another sub-critical mass. Compaq Presario CQ60-418DX CPU Fan The result would be a super-critical mass and an uncontrolled chain reaction that would create the desired explosion. The weapons envisaged in 1942 were the two gun-type weapons, Little Boy (uranium) and Thin Man (plutonium), and the Fat Man plutonium implosion bomb. In early 1943 Oppenheimer determined that two projects should proceed forwards: SONY Vaio VGN-NW240D CPU Fan the Thin Man project (plutonium gun) and the Fat Man project (plutonium implosion). The plutonium gun was to receive the bulk of the research effort, as it was the project with the most uncertainty involved. It was assumed that the uranium gun-type bomb could then be adapted from it. In December 1943 the British mission of 19 scientists arrived in Los Alamos. Hans Bethebecame head of the Theoretical Division. SONY VGN-BX197XP CPU Fan In April 1944 it was found by Emilio Segrè that the plutonium-239 produced by the Hanford reactors had too high a level of background neutron radiation, and underwentspontaneous fission to a very small extent, due to the unexpected presence of plutonium-240 impurities. If such plutonium were used in a gun-type design, Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4056 CPU Fan the chain reaction would start in the split second before the critical mass was fully assembled, blowing the weapon apart with a much lower yield than expected, in what is known as afizzle. As a result, development of Fat Man was given high priority. Chemical explosives were used to implode a sub-critical sphere of plutonium, thus increasing its density and making it into a critical mass. Toshiba AB7805HX-GB3 CPU Fan The difficulties with implosion centered on the problem of making the chemical explosives deliver a perfectly uniform shock wave upon the plutonium sphere— if it were even slightly asymmetric, the weapon would fizzle. This problem was solved by the use of explosive lenses which would focus the blast waves inside the imploding sphere, akin to the way in which an optical lens focuses light rays.[16] Toshiba Satellite L500-208 CPU Fan After D-Day, General Groves ordered a team of scientists to follow eastward-moving victorious Allied troops into Europe to assess the status of the German nuclear program (and to prevent the westward-moving Russians from gaining any materials or scientific manpower). They concluded that, while Germany had an atomic bomb program headed byWerner Heisenberg, HP 535441-001 CPU Fan the government had not made a significant investment in the project, and it had been nowhere near success. Historians claim to have found a rough schematic showing a Nazi nuclear bomb.[17] In March 1945, a German scientific team was directed by the physicist Kurt Diebner to develop a primitive nuclear device inOhrdruf, Thuringia.[17][18] Toshiba Satellite P100-444 CPU Fan Last ditch research was conducted in an experimental nuclear reactor at Haigerloch. On April 12, after Roosevelt's death, Vice-President Harry S. Truman assumed the presidency. At the time of the unconditional surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, the Manhattan Project was still months away from producing a working weapon. HP Pavilion dv7-3114eo CPU Fan Because of the difficulties in making a working plutonium bomb, it was decided that there should be a test of the weapon. On July 16, 1945, in the desert north of Alamogordo, New Mexico, the first nuclear test took place, code-named "Trinity", using a device nicknamed "the gadget." The test, a plutonium implosion type device, released energy equivalent to 19 kilotons of TNT, HP Mini 110-1125SA CPU Fan far more powerful than any weapon ever used before. The news of the test's success was rushed to Truman at the Potsdam Conference, where Churchill was briefed and Joseph Stalin was informed of the new weapon. On July 26, thePotsdam Declaration was issued containing an ultimatum for Japan: either surrender or suffer "complete and utter destruction", although nuclear weapons were not mentioned. HP KSB06105HA CPU Fan After hearing arguments from scientists and military officers over the possible uses of the weapons against Japan (though some recommended using them as demonstrations in unpopulated areas, most recommended using them against built up targets, a euphemistic term for populated cities), Truman ordered the use of the weapons on Japanese cities, Compaq Presario CQ60-210eo CPU Fan hoping it would send a strong message that would end in the capitulation of the Japanese leadership and avoid a lengthy invasion of the islands. On May 10–11, 1945, the Target Committee at Los Alamos, led by Oppenheimer, recommended Kyoto, Hiroshima, Yokohama, and the arsenal at Kokura as possible targets. HP Pavilion dv7-2250sf CPU Fan Concerns about Kyoto's cultural heritage led to it being replaced by Nagasaki. On August 6, 1945, a uranium-based weapon, Little Boy, was detonated above the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Three days later, a plutonium-based weapon, Fat Man, was detonated above the city of Nagasaki. The atomic bombs killed at least one hundred thousand Japanese outright, most of them civilians, with the heat, radiation, and blast effects. HP 434678-001 CPU Fan Many tens of thousands would later die of radiation sickness and related cancers.[19][20] Truman promised a "rain of ruin" if Japan did not surrender immediately, threatening to systematically eliminate their ability to wage war.[21] On August 15, Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender. HP G60-230us CPU Fan The Soviet Union was not invited to share in the new weapons developed by the United States and the other Allies. During the war, information had been pouring in from a number of volunteer spies involved with the Manhattan Project (known in Soviet cables under the code-name of Enormoz), HP Pavilion dv6365us CPU Fan and the Soviet nuclear physicist Igor Kurchatov was carefully watching the Allied weapons development. It came as no surprise to Stalin when Truman had informed him at the Potsdam conference that he had a "powerful new weapon." Truman was shocked at Stalin's lack of interest. The Soviet spies in the U.S. project were all volunteers and none were Russians. HP 535439-001 CPU Fan One of the most valuable, Klaus Fuchs, was a German émigré theoretical physicist who had been part of the early British nuclear efforts and the UK mission to Los Alamos. Fuchs had been intimately involved in the development of the implosion weapon, and passed on detailed cross-sections of the Trinity device to his Soviet contacts. COMPAQ 6910c CPU Fan Other Los Alamos spies—none of whom knew each other—included Theodore Hall and David Greenglass. The information was kept but not acted upon, as Russia was still too busy fighting the war in Europe to devote resources to this new project. In the years immediately after World War II, the issue of who should control atomic weapons became a major international point of contention. IBM Lenovo IdeaPad G510 CPU Fan Many of the Los Alamos scientists who had built the bomb began to call for "international control of atomic energy," often calling for either control by transnational organizations or the purposeful distribution of weapons information to all superpowers, but due to a deep distrust of the intentions of the Soviet Union, both in postwar Europe and in general, the policy-makers of the United States worked to attempt to secure an American nuclear monopoly. HP G62-110SO CPU Fan A half-hearted plan for international control was proposed at the newly formed United Nations by Bernard Baruch (The Baruch Plan), but it was clear both to American commentators—and to the Soviets—that it was an attempt primarily to stymie Russian nuclear efforts. DELL Precision M6400 CPU Fan The Soviets vetoed the plan, effectively ending any immediate postwar negotiations on atomic energy, and made overtures towards banning the use of atomic weapons in general. The Soviets had put their full industrial might and manpower into the development of their own atomic weapons. SONY Vaio VPC-EB290X CPU Fan The initial problem for the Soviets was primarily one of resources—they had not scouted out uranium resources in the Soviet Union and the U.S. had made deals to monopolise the largest known (and high purity) reserves in the Belgian Congo. The USSR used penal labour to mine the old deposits in Czechoslovakia—now an area under their control—and searched for other domestic deposits (which were eventually found). HP Envy 17-1090eo CPU Fan Two days after the bombing of Nagasaki, the U.S. government released an official technical history of the Manhattan Project, authored by Princeton physicistHenry DeWolf Smyth, known colloquially as the Smyth Report. The sanitized summary of the wartime effort focused primarily on the production facilities and scale of investment, written in part to justify the wartime expenditure to the American public. Toshiba Satellite A210-1CF CPU Fan