[bert]

......The University of Tehran made several cubes between 50,000 to 60,000 psi, and possible stronger!....

I Doubt it.

The compressive strength of granite is 1.300 kg/cm2 which works out to 18,490 psi

The compressive yield of Titanium is 65,300 psi

[reardensteel]

Rods from God might be another solution.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/18/news/space.php

[OldGuard1]

......The University of Tehran made several cubes between 50,000 to 60,000 psi, and possible stronger!.... I Doubt it. The compressive strength of granite is 1.300 kg/cm2 which works out to 18,490 psi The compressive yield of Titanium is 65,300 psi

I don't think that the facts of the case are in question here. The test was conducted by the American Concrete Institute, so unless you think they're an Iranian front group...

According to the article, the Iranian concrete appeared to be composed of quartz and steel fibers. Quartz has a compressive strength of 160,000 PSI.

As for the person who commented that we have a new bunker buster, so they're back at stage one, the Massive Ordinance Penetrator *is* our new bunker buster. It's an impressive weapon, but when you have strengths like this, heavy things will tend to explode, not penetrate.

As for whether it's in use, that's a very good question. Their reactors are being built by Russia, so odds are they're using a Russian-style concrete for those, even if it's made from local materials. On the other hand, Natanz (where their centrifuges are, target #1), plus any of their secret facilities, would have almost certainly been built by the Iranians themselves. Who knows what sort of concrete they're made of, but if it doesn't use this concrete, I'd expect them to reinforce it with this concrete soon if this stuff can be produced in bulk. Neither quartz nor steel fibers are exactly rare, so I don't see any obvious production problems.

As for dropping multiple bombs, that's certainly an option. However, if each bunker buster only takes out a meter of the stuff, and you can only carry one per aircraft, that's a pretty big assault you'd have to make.

As for the person who suggested nuclear bunker busters -- that may be the only effective way to take them out from the air, if they use this stuff. On the other hand, there are lots of non-nuclear options if you drop people down to the surface. That vent option sounds like a great one; I'd like to hear more about that one, too. I don't have any doubt that our military will come up with some good options. Still, it's not good news that a team from Iran performed this in the US, under testing by the American Concrete Institute, and that the team was headed by one of their nuke guys.