Where’s the link?
Need to provide a link for this.
cent you can create quite a primitive, but nevertheless functioning
nuclear device”.
“Therefore the fact that despite all the beneficial proposals that
Russia, UN and the international community have made, Iran has
nevertheless started enriching to 20 per cent shows that Iran is
simply moving step by step towards nuclear weapons, is playing for
time and is using the talks as a screen,” Arbatov said. He also noted
that one day in the future, in the same way as Tehran announced its
intention to enrich higher-grade uranium, “it will be announced that
Iran has after all decided to create a nuclear weapon, citing all
kinds of threats”.
I will be the first: “Obama’s Fault.” “Democrat Leadership fault.” Pissing away time while allowing Iran to become nuclear. Of course it doesn’t help that our pres-ent and lib leaders WANT IRAN to have nukes.
Doria....do you have a link? I’d love to read the whole article. Thanks! :)
Hold on to your hats.
That’s pretty close to what I expect. Keep an eye on Hezbollah and Syria. I bet Bibi and Lieberman are getting very little sleep these days.
*ping*
I hope Israel drops/missiles a lot of leaflet into the Iranian cities when they inevitably attack. It’s a vital part of the operation.
Forget Iran’s punch, I want to see their Judy.
BBC has no such story, that I can find.
“He also said that Tehran will suddenly announce it has developed a nuclear weapon, and noted that 20 per cent-grade uranium was sufficient to develop a primitive but functioning nuclear device.”
Can one of the great Physics brains that we have here on FR verify this as a possibility?
Hmmm... sure makes you wonder what they’re up to.
I’m not a physicist but I wonder if a nuke of any real yield is possible with only 20% enriched Uranium. My understanding is that Uranium is generally used for (and limited to) the cannon-type weapon, as opposed to Plutonium being needed for the spherical-implosion type weapon. This already limits the yield even with 80%+ enriched uranium. I wonder if the cannon-type can even reach critical mass at only 20%?
We’ll see, I guess.
Too many articles on FR without links today.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enriched_uranium#Low-enriched_uranium_.28LEU.29
Low-enriched uranium’ (LEU) has a lower than 20% concentration of 235U. For use in commercial light water reactors (LWR), the most prevalent power reactors in the world, uranium is enriched to 3 to 5% 235U. Fresh LEU used in research reactors is usually enriched 12% to 19.75% U-235, the latter concentration being used to replace HEU fuels when converting to LEU.
[edit] Highly enriched uranium (HEU)
A billet of highly enriched uranium metal
Highly enriched uranium (HEU) has a greater than 20% concentration of 235U or 233U.
The fissile uranium in nuclear weapons usually contains 85% or more of 235U known as weapon(s)-grade, though for a crude, inefficient weapon 20% is sufficient (called weapon(s)-usable); some argue that even less is sufficient, but then the critical mass for unmoderated fast neutrons rapidly increases, reaching infinity at 6%235U.[2]
The very first uranium bomb, Little Boy in 1945, used 64 kilograms of 80% enriched uranium. Wrapping the weapon’s fissile core in a neutron reflector (which is standard on all nuclear explosives) can dramatically lessen the critical mass. Because the core was surrounded by a good neutron reflector, at explosion it comprised almost 2.5 critical masses. Neutron reflectors and compressing the fissile core via implosion allow nuclear weapon designs that use less than what would be one bare-sphere critical mass at normal density. The presence of too much of the 238U isotope inhibits the runaway nuclear chain reaction that is responsible for the weapon’s power. The critical mass for 85% highly enriched uranium is about 50 kilograms (110 lb), which at normal density would be a sphere about 17 centimetres (6.7 in) in diameter.
Later US nuclear weapons usually use plutonium-239 in the primary stage, but the secondary stage which is compressed by the primary nuclear explosion often uses HEU with enrichment between 40% and 80%[3] along with the fusion fuel lithium deuteride. For the secondary of a large nuclear weapon, the higher critical mass of less-enriched uranium can be an advantage as it allows the core at explosion time to contain a larger amount of fuel. The 238U is not fissile but still fissionable by fusion neutrons.
HEU is also used in fast neutron reactors, whose cores require about 20% or more of fissile material, as well as in naval reactors, where it often contains at least 50% 235U, but typically does not exceed 90%. The Fermi-1 commercial fast reactor prototype used HEU with 26.5% 235U. For criticality experiments, enrichment of uranium to over 97% has been accomplished.[4]
I said this yesterday.
Israel needs to leaflet Iran. Then tac-nuke each nuclear site. They’re dug too deep.
Otherwise, Omoslem gets his dream: Nuclear Moslem Iran.
*ping*
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