nuclear-news

Israel to close its unsafe Dimona nuclear reactor, in fear of war with Iran

Iranian war fears spark closure of Israel reactor THE AUSTRALIAN,    January 09, 2012   ISRAEL is preparing to shut its nuclear reactor at Dimona, where it makes nuclear weapons, because of the site’s vulnerability in a war with Iran.

The decision, taken by the Israel Atomic Energy Commission and the
country’s civil defence authorities, follows a realisation that the
facility could be vulnerable to a missile attack.

The Haaretz newspaper quoted officials last week as saying they had
concluded the reactor was no longer impenetrable in the event of war.

Deactivating the reactor in the southern Negev desert would minimise
the dangers of nuclear fallout in the area “should it be targeted by
missiles from as far away as Iran”.

The official explanation is that work on the reactor is conducted for
research and does not need to be carried out around the clock.

According to defence sources, the shutdown at Dimona would begin
before the launch of any Israeli or US assault on Iran’s nuclear
facilities. Whistleblowing technician Mordechai Vanunu, who first
revealed Israel’s nuclear arsenal to London’s The Sunday Times in
1986, worked at Dimona.

Uzi Even, one of the founders of Israel’s nuclear program and now a
professor in Tel Aviv, said it would take a long time, many weeks, to
cool down a nuclear reactor and lower the level of radioactivity.

He said the Dimona reactor, built in 1964, was probably the second
oldest active reactor in the world.

It was dangerous and “should have been closed a long time ago”, he said.

Dimona, constructed with French help, was used to make plutonium for
nuclear weapons and experts say the reactor produces tritium for
H-bombs……
The decision to close Dimona follows Iranian warnings that the site is
a legitimate target.

Iran’s deputy chief of staff Brigadier-General Massoud Jazzayeri has
warned that Dimona would be targeted in retaliation to an Israeli
attack.

A leaked defence department report suggested security arrangements at
Dimona had been “severely deficient” for years.

Dimona is within range of Iranian and Syrian missiles, and some of
those possessed by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/iranian-war-fears-spark-closure-of-israel-reactor/story-fnb64oi6-1226239356762

January 10, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Israel, weapons and war