"This British physicist is probably on a wealthy Texan's payroll."
"142 tons does not a stockpile make."
"This is outrageous! Outrageous!"
Any democrat talking points I missed re: their expected reaction to this?
AV
Posted on 08/09/2004 8:26:22 AM PDT by areafiftyone
Five-hundred tons of yellowcake uranium ore stored at Saddam Hussein's al Tuwaitha nuclear weapons research laboratory near Baghdad could have been enriched to produce 142 nuclear weapons, a prominent British physicist has determined.
Addressing the claim by British intelligence last year that Iraq had sought uranium in Niger, Norman Dombey, professor of theoretical physics at the University of Sussex, argued, "Iraq already had far more uranium than it needed for any conceivable nuclear weapons programme."
In an op-ed piece for the London's Evening Standard, Professor Dombey explained that standard yellowcake ore consists of 99 percent Uranium 238 [U238], "which is radioactive but is not used in normal nuclear weapons as it cannot sustain a chain reaction."
To cause a nuclear chain reaction, he noted, "you need U235, which only makes up less than one percent [0.7] of natural uranium."
After doing the calculations, Professor Dombey explained, "You have a warehouse containing 500 tons of natural uranium; you need 25 kilograms of U235 to build one weapon. How many nuclear weapons can you build?
"The answer is 142."
Though most reporters continue to insist that Iraq had abandoned its nuclear weapons program after the first Gulf War, chief U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer told Congress earlier this year that the Iraqi scientists were "preserving and expanding [their] knowledge to design and develop nuclear weapons."
One laboratory at al Tuwaitha "was intentionally focused on research applicable for nuclear weapons development," the top weapons inspector revealed.
Iraq war critics have argued that Saddam's uranium stockpile was safe because it was subject to once-a-year inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
But the IAEA was also in charge of monitoring North Korea's nuclear program right up until 2002, when Pyongyang announced it would begin producing nuclear weapons.
Dan Rather didn't tell me that.
I suspect what they mean is that of the Uranium in Yellowcake, 99% is an unusable form.
more importantly, where did it go, and where is it now?
Well, we all have W to blame for the nukes not being finished.
He said it was 99% U238. He later said it was 0.7% U235.
"This British physicist is probably on a wealthy Texan's payroll."
"142 tons does not a stockpile make."
"This is outrageous! Outrageous!"
Any democrat talking points I missed re: their expected reaction to this?
AV
(/extreme Michael Moore Mode)
The only problem again with this story and many others is that is it on Newsmax which is not exactly mainstream media. The American public will never get any of this information.
Sorry, but I'm told they don't have any yellow cake. How could this be?
Would you like a donut with that mode? ;-)
It ought to be noted that the yellowcake stockpile was sealed at the end of the first gulf war and was being monitored by the IAEA up until the invasion last year. Had Saddam tried to access the stockpile before our invasion we would have known about it.
Is this the stash they brought to Oak Ridge in Tennessee last month or so?
instead they are TOO busy giving tips to their terrorist friends.
Hmmm either did Petah jennings.
Not sure..I think the stuff they brought here was machinery and instumentation, not the yellowcake per se..
If he's in that mode, he'll need a lot more than one donut.
So where are these 500 tons of yellowcake now?
| IT'S BUSH'S FAULT! |
The Demopukes and world liberals want us to stick our heads in the sand, believe everything is right with the world, and sing "Kumbaya". Right up until the next 9-11 tragedy.
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