Background A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter; a modern thermonuclear weapon weighing little more than a thousand kilograms can produce an explosion comparable to the detonation of more than a billion kilograms of conventional high explosive. Even small nuclear devices can devastate a city. Nuclear weapons are considered weapons of mass destruction, and their use and control has been a major aspect of international policy since their debut. A…
Author: John Greenewald
Background The Old Post Office Pavilion, historically known as the Old Post Office and Clock Tower, located at 1100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C. was completed in 1899, and is a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. It was used as the city’s main post office until 1914. It functioned primarily as an office building afterward, and was nearly torn down during the construction of the Federal Triangle complex in the 1920s. It was nearly demolished again in the 1970s to make way for completion of the Federal Triangle. Major renovations occurred in 1976 and 1983.…
Background The Year 2000 problem (also known as the Y2K problem, the millennium bug, the Y2K bug, or simply Y2K) was a notable computer bug resulting from the practice in early computer program design of representing the year with two digits. This caused some date-related processing to operate incorrectly for dates and times on and after January 1, 2000 and on other critical dates which were billed “event horizons”. Without corrective action, long-working systems would break down when the “…97, 98, 99…” ascending numbering assumption suddenly became invalid. Companies and organizations world-wide checked, fixed, and upgraded their computer systems. The…
Background This directive establishes policy as it relates to the official responsibilities of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Specifically, it includes the laws, regulations, executive orders and policies that define and support the roles and responsibilities of the DIA Inspector General (IG). It also defines and clarifies the roles and responsibilities of DIA management, staff and outside agencies in support of the OIG. Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Directive 5100.200, 17 February 2006 Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Directive 5100.200, 17 February 2006 – Office of the Inspector General Policies and Responsibilities [9 Pages, 1.7MB]
Background Project Orion was a study of a spacecraft intended to be directly propelled by a series of explosions of atomic bombs behind the craft (nuclear pulse propulsion). Early versions of this vehicle were proposed to take off from the ground with significant associated nuclear fallout; later versions were presented for use only in space. The Orion concept offered high thrust and high specific impulse, or propellant efficiency, at the same time. The unprecedented extreme power requirements for doing so would be met by nuclear explosions, of such power relative to the vehicle’s mass as to be survived only by…