WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The newly declassified information shows that, from 1996 to 2013, US inventories of highly enriched uranium decreased from 740.7 metric tons to 585.6 metric tons, a reduction of more than 20 percent, the fact sheet explained.
"The value of transparency has been highlighted by the United States throughout the nuclear security summit process," the fact sheet stated on Thursday evening.
The simplest nuclear bomb, such as the weapon dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, essentially consists of a uranium-tipped bullet fired into a sphere of uranium.
The so-called gun design is a major concern in nuclear security circles, because a terrorist group with 40 to 50 kilograms of highly enriched uranium could conceivably make an atomic bomb, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists’ website.
