When the inspectors arrived, Iraq was probably within months of producing a fission bomb.

ECONOMIST: What the inspectors didn��t find

But that would not reduce confidence in the existing stockpiles, nor would it prevent a nation from building a fairly simple fission bomb in the 1 kiloton to 20 kiloton range.

CNN: ASIANOW - Asiaweek

Loomis backed much of Lawrence's work, not least his uranium fission research, which led to the development of the atomic bomb.

FORBES: The Alchemist

The recent tests were done with devices involving "pure fission, " "boosted fission" and "thermonuclear" (implying a hydrogen bomb) processes, which are on the cutting edge of nuclear technology.

CNN: OUT OF THE CLOSET