@@ Truth about Iranian nukes @@
Arash
April 17, 2004
Strange bedfellows
Dr.James Gordon Prather
Nuclear Weapons Physicist
gpra...@worldnetdaily.com
The neo-crazies want to invade Iran and the loony-lefties want universal
nuke disarmament.
So, strange as it seems, they have each charged that if the Iranians are
"allowed" to begin full-scale operation of their uranium-enrichment facility
at Natanz or their nuclear power reactor at Bushehr, Iran will soon be
producing "fissile" material with which to make nukes and/or to give to
terrorists.
Now, Natanz and Bushehr will be subject to International Atomic Energy
Agency Safeguards agreements. Furthermore, Iran will have signed an
Additional Protocol, which gives the IAEA the right to inspect any facility
in Iran, not just Natanz and Bushehr.
So, by making these charges, the neo-crazies and loony-lefties are
essentially attempting to discredit the IAEA nuke proliferation prevention
regime.
Consider Natanz, first.
The bomb we dropped on Hiroshima was a "uranium-fission" nuke.
But not all uranium is "fissile." In fact, only about 0.3 percent of the
atoms in natural uranium are fissile. Since all uranium atoms have the same
chemical properties, the very rare fissile isotopes - U-235 - can't be
chemically separated from the non-fissile isotopes.
Bushehr will "burn" uranium fuel that is "enriched" to about 3 percent U-235
by almost literally throwing out many of the heavier U-238 atoms.
"Weapons-grade" uranium is at least 90 percent U-235.
So many U-238 atoms have to be thrown out from a ton of natural uranium that
only a few pounds of weapons-grade uranium remain.
Nevertheless, the loony-lefties charge the Iranians can modify Natanz to
produce just pounds of output, rather than tons, and the stupid on-site IAEA
inspectors will never notice, nor be competent enough to perform a simple
test to determine isotopic composition of the output.
To their credit, the neo-crazies now realize the IAEA inspectors are neither
stupid nor incompetent.
They want an excuse to invade Iran. But they learned a lesson when they
invaded Iraq, citing an urgent need to destroy the nukes and nuke programs
the IAEA insisted weren't there. As the whole world now knows, the IAEA was
right. They weren't there.
Now, the IAEA similarly says that Iran has no nukes or nuke programs to
destroy.
So, the neo-crazies say, "Maybe not now, but as soon as the Natanz facility
is up and running, the Iranians will abrogate their Safeguards agreement,
throw the IAEA inspectors out and begin producing weapons-grade uranium by
the ton. We must never allow Natanz to begin operating."
And maybe Natanz won't begin operating, now that the Pakistani connection
has been revealed.
But how about Bushehr?
Well, the bomb we dropped on Nagasaki was a "plutonium-fission" nuke.
As uranium fuel is "burned" in the Bushehr nuclear reactor, a small amount
of plutonium will be "bred." Initially, the Pu-239 isotope, which is
"fissile," will be produced. But, as more fuel is burned, more and more
non-fissile plutonium isotopes will be produced - some of them highly
radioactive.
All plutonium atoms have the same chemical properties. Therefore, when the
"spent fuel" is chemically "reprocessed," the plutonium can be separated
out. But "weapons-grade" plutonium must be about 90 percent U-239.
So there is a definite limit to the length of time - about a year - the fuel
can be allowed to remain in the operating reactor if weapons-grade plutonium
is to be produced.
But the IAEA will see to it that the Russian-supplied fuel will remain - on
average - in the safeguarded Bushehr reactor for more than four years.
Hence, the plutonium recovered from Bushehr fuel will belong to Russia, will
not be "weapons-grade," and will be highly radioactive.
The loony-lefties say that a terrorist wouldn't care if the nuke he made
from stolen reactor-grade plutonium was essentially a fizzle. It would still
terrorize.
Of course, the loony-lefties make similar charges about any and all nuclear
power plants, wherever sited.
However, the neo-crazies don't make similar charges about other nuclear
power plants. They just want an excuse to invade Iran and an un-safeguarded
Iranian reactor would do just fine.
So, the neo-crazies say, "Maybe Iran doesn't have nukes or a nuke program,
now, but shortly before Bushehr has operated a year, Iran will abrogate its
Safeguards agreement, throw out the IAEA and proceed to separate out enough
"weapons-grade" plutonium from the Bushehr fuel to make a few nukes.
"We must never allow Bushehr to begin operating."
Will the neo-crazies prevail, or the IAEA? Well, the Russians and the
European Union made a deal with the Iranians; sign and adhere to the IAEA
Additional Protocol and we'll see to it that Bushehr is just the beginning.
* Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing
official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal
Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the
Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the
Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for
national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking
member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy
Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a
nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in
California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico.
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