U.S. Site Suspended for Posting Nuclear Documents

A U.S. government website that posted documents on Iraqi nuclear research has been suspended amid questions about whether the data available contained too much detail about making atomic bombs.

Public access to the Operation Iraqi Freedom Document Portal was blocked Thursday night after reports that some of the information posted went beyond what is easily available on the Internet.

The site was established after the Iraq Survey Group concluded that there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It draws on millions of pages, most in Arabic, taken from tens of thousands of boxes of materials.

When the nuclear documents were first posted in September, groups including the International Atomic Energy Agency protested their release, saying states like Iran could use the data to further their nuclear programs.

Specifically, the information involved specific questions triggering mechanisms and firing circuits, along with ways of overcoming specific technical and engineering hurdles.

The danger of the posted data remains in dispute. But intelligence officials say they will be much more careful when the Web site comes up again.