What is SUBCRITICAL NUCLEAR EXPERIMENTS? (tags)
Subcritical nuclear experiments differ from traditional nuclear weapons tests in that they are designed to not reach criticality, in other words to not sustain a nuclear chain reaction. Because of this, subcriticals are not explicitly banned under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the international agreement which would prohibit all nuclear explosions with yields greater than zero.
Emergency Alert!! 2/14 US-UK conduct 'subcritical' nuclear experiment at Navada! (tags)
Government scientists from the United States and Britain successfully exploded a small amount of nuclear material underground in a joint subcritical experiment, an official with the National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday.