Posted on 01/08/2007 4:53:59 PM PST by Flavius
ENVIRONMENTAL contamination could affect the region if Israel goes ahead with reported plans to attack Iran's uranium enrichment facilities or if there is an earthquake, a Bahraini expert warned yesterday.
However, Bahrain University physics professor Dr Waheeb Alnaser said things could be much worse if Israel decides to attack the power plant in Bushehr.
He said alleged plans by Israel to attack facilities in Natanz, Arak and near Isfahan would result in limited damage to the environment.
This is because neither the weapons that would be used nor the uranium located there is highly active.
But Dr Alnaser fears that Israel may go even further by attacking Iran's power plant in Bushehr, describing this as a major disaster for the whole region.
"I'm not saying there would be no environmental damage from attacking these uranium enrichment plants, but the danger is 100 times worse if they attack an active nuclear reactor - especially after three or four years of operation when the uranium will be highly active," he said.
"Israel hasn't named the plant as one of its targets, but you never know with Israel. War is all about lies, they may say one thing and do another."
Dr Alnaser said that winds would carry the pollution to the GCC countries, potentially making them uninhabitable.
From an environmental standpoint, destroying uranium before it becomes radioactive is much better than when it is in operation in a nuclear plant, he explained.
"This type of uranium when not radioactive can be handled wearing gloves and you can stand next to it safely without being harmed," he said.
"It is much safer than when it is in the core of a nuclear power plant."
Dr Alnaser said destroying inactive uranium, while harmful to the environment, might be no more dangerous than waste products - including gases that may be emitted by Iran in its usage of the material for nuclear energy.
"At least this way the pollution would be one-off, instead of having continuous nuclear activity at our doorstep," he continued.
He added that he did not support military action against Iran.
Dr Alnaser was responding to a report in the Sunday Times that Israel had drawn up plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities in a tactical nuclear strike.
The Jewish state has denied the report, although Iran warned that it would hit back if attacked.
Dr Alnaser said Iran needed to become more transparent with its nuclear policies.
He also severely criticised the International Atomic Energy Agency for failing to uncover Iran's heavy water plant, which can be used to produce Tritium, a main ingredient in atomic bombs.
"The Americans had been warning of this, but we dismissed it because they often lie about such things," he explained.
"It turns out, however, that they were speaking the truth. The agency failed to uncover this and we only found out after Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced it himself."
Dr Alnaser said Iran could have very easily built its nuclear power plant on the Arabian Sea, where there are no countries nearby, but insisted on building it in Bushehr - which is closer to the Gulf countries than it is to Tehran.
"If Iran wants the rest of the world to care about its environment in the event of a nuclear strike, it should also take into consideration the concerns of neighbouring countries. It didn't do this," he continued.
Dr Alnaser said a regional nuclear disaster could occur as a result of unforeseen events such as an earthquake.
"How can we trust a country that was unable to help its own people during the 2004 earthquake in Iran? They had to rely on help from their enemies, the Americans," he said.
"An earthquake in the location of the nuclear power plant could very well cause a disaster.
"We don't have sufficient information about what precautions are being taken because there is no transparency."
Dr Alnaser called on all GCC countries to purchase devices that would detect radioactive pollutants in the air that could drift from Iran.
"Qatar has bought such equipment and I understand that Kuwait is planning to. We should have had these in place a long time ago," he said.
"This pollution could be a major factor in causing cancer. Instead we are only concentrating on local industries and other sources."
They also have missile-capable subs, and cruise missiles, too.
Air defenses are not an obstacle.
You misunderstand. It's not the use of orbital rockets for ICBMs (which is really not hard to do, btw); it's one of technological capabilities in regard to rocket performance.
Iran doesn't have missiles with sufficient performance (i.e., range) to hit Israel.
Israel, OTOH, knows how to make rockets with orbital capability, which says they don't have the missile performance issues that Iran does. Range is not a problem for them -- they can hit Iran.
BTW -- did you know that the only thing separating a ICBM from an orbital rocket is that the latter has an upper stage, and the former does not? Both we and the Russians have successfully converted ICBMs for orbital use.
This one may have been talking to Michio Kaku. They want us to fear the atom.
I would say that's Iran's problem...
You know more on this subject than I but you are assuming what is now stays now. There will be enough smart Iranians, Pakistanis and others to either develop or buy this technology.
The only similarity I can think of is in 1862 my ancestors suddenly found the Dakota people were killing them right and left. They killed with state-of-the-art rifled rifles while most of the settlers had smooth bores. It took Abraham Lincoln sending General Pope (I think that was his name) and artillery to chase the Dakotas out onto the Dakota plains and into Canada.
People who think in slogans act in bullets and if it takes more than bullets they will match you weapon for weapon.
People hate Jews and the State of Israel not because of failure but because of success. You need a strong political effort at attenuating the Iranian situation knowing full well of your liability--being hated for being successful. As I said before, there must be some smart Jews in the government. In the meantime, threats just reinforce the negative perceptions of Jews and Israel.
Isreal can create earthquakes? Cool.
funny how this is lost by the screaming headline.
There will be enough smart Iranians, Pakistanis and others to either develop ... this technology.
And yet they have not. I can only guess at the reasons for this, but I think it's primarily the lack of an indigenous a high tech infrastructure (especially specialty metals and high-precision machining).
... or buy ...
The fact that they have not bought it yet, shows that nobody who can make this stuff -- even the Russians or Chinese -- is stupid enough to sell it to the Iranians, North Koreans, or other whackjobs.
This is as bad as all the exaggeration about how bad Chernobyl would be. Next thing you know, they'll trot out "nuclear winter."
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