Weapons Tests

A defense contractor that used explosives to test weapons on a once-remote facility in Santa Clarita will no longer do so because of complaints from neighbors about noise, a company spokesman said Monday. The company, National Technical Systems, has laid off 20 employees and moved its AT-4 anti-tank weapon testing program from a 165-acre site south of Soledad Canyon Road. The action followed complaints from residents of the Friendly Valley area.

The levels of radioactive plutonium around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant aren't much higher than the amount of plutonium remaining in the environment from Cold War-era nuclear weapons tests, and it probably poses little threat to humans, a new study indicates. The paper, published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, examines the area within a roughly 20-mile radius of the stricken plant and details the concentration of plutonium isotopes deposited there after explosions ripped open multiple reactors.

There is a majesty to this place that belies the name, a serenity that mocks the furor over its future that is brewing on the ranches and Indian reservations and in the towns on the other side of the ridges. Ponderosa pines and mountain cedars sway in the breezes that cut across the rugged landscape. A tiny creek bed, often dry, meanders through the grasses and rocks on the canyon floor. At night, the cries of coyotes resonate around the cliffs, and twinkling stars crowd the sky.

The Nevada Legislature has taken the first step in demanding that the federal government make amends for massive radioactive contamination left by decades of nuclear weapons testing on a swath of desert the size of Rhode Island. In a joint resolution, the state's Senate and House are asking the federal government to contain and mitigate about 300 million curies of contamination left in the soil and water of the former Nevada Test Site, about 75 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The Energy Department detonated 921 nuclear warheads underground before testing ended in 1992.

General Dynamics Corp. was accused Friday of using "cheater software" and other fraudulent practices to falsify tests and supply defective components for the U.S. Navy's Phalanx anti-missile gun system and the Standard Missile program. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court, one former and four current General Dynamics employees--technicians, supervisors and quality-control specialists--accused the St.

A former top official for a Southland aerospace contractor pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court Monday to charges that he conspired with others to supply the military with inferior or untested guidance parts for key weapons systems. Without the tested parts, the High-Speed Anti-Radar Missile (HARM) and the Navy Underwater Systems, including the MK-49 torpedo and the MK-27 Mobile Underwater Target Device, could not hit their targets, federal authorities said.

Iran successfully tested its second new torpedo, the latest weapon to be unveiled during war games in the Persian Gulf that the military said were aimed at preparing the country's defenses against the United States. The torpedo, believed to be more powerful and capable of going deeper than others in Iran's arsenal, was tested in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital corridor for oil supplies.

The levels of radioactive plutonium around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant aren't much higher than the amount of plutonium remaining in the environment from Cold War-era nuclear weapons tests, and it probably poses little threat to humans, a new study indicates. The paper, published Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, examines the area within a roughly 20-mile radius of the stricken plant and details the concentration of plutonium isotopes deposited there after explosions ripped open multiple reactors.

The House voted to grant disability benefits to veterans who participated in nuclear tests or in the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, Japan, after those cities were hit with atomic bombs. The bill, approved by voice vote and sent to the Senate, would grant benefits to veterans who suffer from diseases such as leukemia and various forms of cancer that may be attributed to radiation at the test or occupation sites.

A nonnuclear explosion expected to generate a mushroom cloud over the desert 85 miles from Las Vegas will be postponed while a federal court reviews the plan, officials said. The experiment won't be conducted earlier than June 23, said Cheri Abdelnour, a spokeswoman for the federal Defense Threat Reduction Agency. A federal lawsuit seeking to stop the blast claims that the planned 700-ton ammonium nitrate and fuel-oil bomb will kick up radioactive fallout left from nuclear weapons tests.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today that weapons tests this week by North Korea pose problems for the United States, its allies and countries in the region, but do not constitute a crisis or require additional American troops. The nuclear detonation and the missile tests Monday and Tuesday were hostile actions that merit a response, Gates said. But he emphasized the need for diplomatic answers. "I don't think that anybody in the administration thinks there is a crisis," Gates said.

North Korea announced today that it has successfully completed an underground nuclear test, as the secretive regime continues efforts to bolster its nuclear capabilities after a rocket test launch in April. Hours later, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that North Korea also had test-fired a short-range missile. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said it was checking the report. The developments follow months of tension during which North Korea has repeatedly rejected international pleas to abandon its burgeoning nuclear program.

Your nation is technically at war with North Korea, among the most hostile countries on Earth. It has long threatened to turn your homeland into "rubble" and is making noises about launching a long-range ballistic test missile any day now. What do you think? Many South Koreans will tell you plainly: baloney.

Northrop Grumman Corp., the largest maker of unmanned aircraft for the military, demonstrated a high-altitude defense that could be installed on unpiloted drones to protect airports against shoulder-fired rockets. The system successfully detected, tracked and directed a laser to intercept a target missile, said Jack Pledger, director of infrared countermeasures for the Los Angeles aerospace company. The system worked in all three tests at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico this month.

Iran announced that it has tested a new weapon capable of sinking ships nearly 200 miles away, and reiterated threats to close a strategic waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if attacked. Up to 40% of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow passage along Iran's southern coast. If Tehran shut down tanker traffic there, oil prices could be expected to skyrocket. The warnings came two days after a deadline expired for Iran to respond to incentives from six world powers, offered in exchange for a promise to curb its uranium enrichment.

North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles off its west coast today in a possible effort to show dissatisfaction toward the new South Korean government and lack of progress in nuclear disarmament talks. The missile launches, reported by Yonhap news agency citing unidentified government officials, came a day after the government in Pyongyang expelled South Korean experts at a joint industrial zone just north of the shared border.

In western Riverside County, the rolling hills and the tumbleweeds act as a fortress of sorts--an ideal setting for discreet weapons tests or earthquake simulations, and ideal for homeowners looking for a little elbow room. But it seems Norco isn't big enough for both. Dozens of families who bought homes in two tony new neighborhoods are alleging that the high-tech engineering firm Wyle Laboratories is not the neighbor they thought it was when they moved in.

Were workers exposed to health risks when the nation carried out nuclear weapons tests in the Nevada desert? Public health workers at Boston University hope to come up with the answer in a $2.8-million medical evaluation program funded by the Energy Department. Health workers will be studying the effects of work-related exposures during nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Russia tested new missiles that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov boasted could penetrate any defense system. Ivanov said Russia tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple warheads, and successfully conducted a "preliminary" test of a cruise missile with an extended range. The former defense minister is seen as a potential successor to President Vladimir V. Putin. Russia has bristled at U.S.

China's anti-satellite test in January increased the country's military threat to Taiwan by demonstrating a limited ability to blind the U.S. satellites that would be deployed in defense of the island, according to a report by an independent private research group to be released today. "The test is a vivid example of how China's emerging military capabilities will complicate the strategic environment confronting U.S.