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Subject: Israel's nuclear weapons
DynamicTraveler    1/7/2007 6:55:18 AM
This recent article outlines Israel's plan to use tactical nuclear weapons as bunker busters to attack Iran's nuclear weapons program. As far as I know, this is the first time Israel has publicly admitted to having nuclear weapons.
 
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DynamicTraveler       1/7/2007 6:58:36 AM
 
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HIPAR       2/1/2007 5:56:50 PM
How many devices do the have?  I have seen estimates in the 20 - 100 range.

As I remember the story, back in the 70's the alarm went off on a satellite with a nuke flash detector.  Later it was confirmed that Israel and South Africa had a 'joint effort' to develop a bomb.  South Africa says it stopped work thereafter.

There were stories about 20 pounds of fissionable material being missing here in the US.  If Israel has that material, maybe they could have fabricated 10 to 15 well engineered devices with it.

There was also a scandal about trigger tubes called Krytrons that made their way into Israel.  These were produced by EG&G who did a lot of design work for the Atomic Energy Commission.  They switched high voltage in nanoseconds;  I presume they are used to accurately time the implosion of high explosives.  I used these devices for timing a pulsed laser.

It's generally conceded the warheads are there and can be delivered by missile to anywhere in the mid-east.

---  CHAS


 
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