Nuclear Materials

The U.S. currently possesses nearly half of the world’s nuclear warheads. Each warhead type has its own story and takes its own path through the system. All of these warheads are born in the Department of Energy (DoE) and then reside with the Department of Defense (DoD). Many warheads eventually return to the DoE for dismantlement but some become “trapped” in the DoD through a seemingly endless cycle of upgrades, redeployments or storage in the stockpile.

Below is an attempt to trace the path a warhead may take as it moves through the phases of its life-cycle (full view).

Japan’s victory in the women’s World Cup championship owned the headlines earlier this week.  The news provided some much needed morale-building four months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami devastated much of the nation.