Such technology could theoretically allow Pyongyang to strike the U.S. with an atomic weapon.
It was built in the 1940s as part of the "Manhattan Project" to develop the first atomic weapon during World War II.
Dr. Hamza revealed that Saddam now has a workable design for a small atomic weapon capable of being fitted aboard an extended-range Scud missile.
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It comes amid continuing tension over its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes but Western nations suspect is being used to build an atomic weapon.
Perhaps the most spectacular failure of the United States was in misjudging how soon the former Soviet Union ended America's nuclear monopoly in August 1949 by testing its own atomic weapon.
The Obama administration has staunchly opposed allowing countries seeking nuclear-cooperation with the U.S. to engage in enrichment or reprocessing, because either path could be used to create the fissile material required to create an atomic weapon.
U.S. and United Nations officials have documented what they describe as serious limitations in Iran's ability to quickly and efficiently produce the enriched uranium required to either fuel a nuclear power reactor or to build an atomic weapon.
WSJ: North Korea Nuclear Find Raises Fears It Will Share With Iran
It weighed about 10 tonnes when it entered the Earth's atmosphere and broke apart 30-50km (20-30 miles) above ground, according to Russia's Academy of Sciences, releasing several kilotons of energy - the equivalent of a small atomic weapon.
While the massive explosion that produced a mushroom cloud there last week is said not to have been caused by a "nuclear event, " press reports suggest the next one might be if, as some believe, Pyongyang is preparing to conduct a test of an atomic weapon.
Mr. Hecker, the Stanford physicist, estimated that the centrifuges he saw on his Nov. 12 visit to North Korea's Yongybyon nuclear complex could produce around two tons of low-enriched uranium per year, or around 88 pounds of highly enriched uranium, nearly enough for a single atomic weapon.
WSJ: North Korea Nuclear Find Raises Fears It Will Share With Iran
India and Pakistan declared themselves nuclear weapon states when they tested atomic bombs in 1998.
For National Geographic's Radio Expeditions, NPR's Alex Chadwick visited Trinity, the New Mexico site where the most terrifying weapon ever the atomic bomb was born.
Rice criticized Iran for refusing to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, despite claims from its leaders that they don't want a nuclear weapon, and accused the country of continuing to enrich uranium.
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