Iran passes redline, has enough U235 for Bomb

[Renae]

Iran has now built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

In a development that comes as the Obama administration is drawing up its policy on negotiations with Tehran over its nuclear programme, UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.


-=-=-


Iran’s success in reaching such a “breakout capacity” – a stage which would allow it to produce enough fissile material for a bomb in a matter of months – crosses a “red line” that for years Israel has said it would not accept.

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Yes that's right folks. The Israelis aren't gonna sit around and wait for the Obama folks to save them. How long till Israel hits Iran?

I'm betting May, early June at the latest. They won't wait, and shouldn't wait. Diplomacy has failed.

 

[Khayembii Communique]

From the other thread on this:

It takes a little more than some low-enriched uranium to make a nuclear warhead. The story provided merely refers to Iran's nuclear power program and their enrichment of uranium for that purpose; there is currently no evidence that Iran has a nuclear weapons program (which is pretty hard to hide).

 

[zimmer]

Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Iran has built up a stockpile of enough enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, United Nations officials acknowledged on Thursday.

...UN officials said Iran had produced more nuclear material than previously thought.

They said Iran had accumulated more than one tonne of low enriched uranium hexafluoride at a facility in Natanz.

If such a quantity were further enriched it could produce more than 20kg of fissile material – enough for a bomb.

Kooks with nukes.

This "Whoopsi !" is brought to you by the UN (and Demokrat Partei way). The place with the motto: Corruption since inception.

Hey Mr. O, are you going to go talk to the IslamoNazi's about how we can get them to give up their toys... of course without preconditions?
To accept Israel?

Are we going to talk like the EU had, or like Jimmy Carter had... begging every step of the way.

Let's talk. It's got them material for one Nuke.
Maybe we can help them get enough for 10 or 20 nukes by the time Obama has left office in 2012.

Hey... Mr. Hope, Change and Unite (LOL)... let's see your silver tongue in action.
Let's see how it's done.
You and Hillary... maybe you can bring in the anti-Semite Carter too. He's had great success with the Iranian kooks. I'm sure they love him.

So Mr. O... let's see how brilliant you are in disarming a bunch of kook radicals. No Mr. Obama... I'm not talking about the Demokrat Partei, but the IslamoNazi's.

Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can.Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can. Yes We Can.

Maybe that will work with them too?
It worked with the drones here.

LOL.

 

[Orion]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

ROFLROFLLOLZZZ Israel has thousands of nukes ready to be assembled in the basement. You think one Iranian nuke is going to challenge the Israeli deterrent?

Iran's one nuke will be shot down and then it will become a crater in the Earth before any of Iran's enemies are at risk.

LOLOLLMAO

 

[zimmer]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

ROFLROFLLOLZZZ Israel has thousands of nukes ready to be assembled in the basement. You think one Iranian nuke is going to challenge the Israeli deterrent?

Iran's one nuke will be shot down and then it will become a crater in the Earth before any of Iran's enemies are at risk.

LOLOLLMAO

The Israeli's are but one concern.
That material could be used to construct a dirty nuke.

 

[bub]

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Yes that's right folks. The Israelis aren't gonna sit around and wait for the Obama folks to save them. How long till Israel hits Iran?

I'm betting May, early June at the latest. They won't wait, and shouldn't wait. Diplomacy has failed.

Do you think they could make a pre-emptive raid on Iran?
I think they've already done something similar around 20 years ago, and it looks like their new government will be quite right wing, but...do you think they could do it again?

 

[Goobieman]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

The Israeli's are but one concern.

I am as concerned about the Israelis having nukes as I am the French and Brits having them.

Iran having nukes will lead to a nuclear exchange in the ME.

 

[American]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Hey on another thread I was told bombs can't be made from low-grade uranium, so no big deal. I guess we're safe.

 

[scourge99]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

A senior UN official added that countries usually waited until they had an enriched uranium stockpile sufficient for several bombs before proceeding to develop fissile material. He conceded that Iran now had enough enriched uranium for one bomb.

“Do they have enough low enriched uranium to produce a significant quantity [enough high enriched uranium for a bomb]?” he said. “In theory this is possible, [although] with the present configuration at Natanz it isn’t.”

David Albright, the head of the Institute for Science and International Security, said: “If Iran did decide to build nuclear weapons, it’s entering an era in which it could do so quickly.”

This has been my guess for awhile: Iran will simply wait for the right time or stimulus to make a bomb to avoid receiving strong condemnation.

 

[Goobieman]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

This has been my guess for awhile: Iran will simply wait for the right time or stimulus to make a bomb to avoid receiving strong condemnation.

There are those here that will -never- comdemn Iran for building a bomb.

These people fall into two groups:
Those that believe the US is the cause of most problems in the world;
Those that look forward to the destruction of Israel.

There may be some overlap between the two.

 

[American]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

There are those here that will -never- comdemn Iran for building a bomb.

These people fall into two groups:
Those that believe the US is the cause of most problems in the world;
Those that look forward to the destruction of Israel.

There may be some overlap between the two.

 

[Renae]

Do you think they could make a pre-emptive raid on Iran?
I think they've already done something similar around 20 years ago, and it looks like their new government will be quite right wing, but...do you think they could do it again?

I not only believe they can, but they will. It won't be easy, but unless Obama orders US Forces to attack the Israelis to defend Iran... they'll do it. they won't risk having a nuclear showdown with Iran. And if it goes to that point... they won't hit Iran with conventional weapons, it will be with nuclear weapons.

 

[Arch Enemy]

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Yes that's right folks. The Israelis aren't gonna sit around and wait for the Obama folks to save them. How long till Israel hits Iran?

I'm betting May, early June at the latest. They won't wait, and shouldn't wait. Diplomacy has failed.

Was there even an indication that Israel was going to "sit around"? Even the left-leaning Livni is hawkish when it comes to Iran. To me it appears that whenever a right-winger like Netanyahu speaks moderately he talks about Iran.
Diplomacy has to take place, and America has to be the middle-ground.
However speculation that Iran will use a nuclear weapon to destroy Israel is completely insane!

 

[Arch Enemy]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Hey on another thread I was told bombs can't be made from low-grade uranium, so no big deal. I guess we're safe.

I am not too certain, nor keen on the intricacies of nuclear engineering however:

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.
=============================
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 required rapidly increases. However, judicious use of implosion and neutron reflectors can enable construction of a weapon from a quantity of uranium below the usual critical mass for its level of enrichment, though this would likely only be possible in a country which already had extensive experience in developing nuclear weapons. 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.

Personally I do not understand how any nuclear weaponry could be "insufficient".
However, I don't think the argument lies whether or not Iran could build a bomb, but within whether or not Iran would use it. Personally, I think one is insane to promote the idea that Iran would use a nuclear weapon.

 

[First Thought]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Have fun concerning yourself with matters that are out of your hands. Let's hope Iran is smarter than we give them credit for.

 

[TheNextEra]

Given how the U.S. deals with nuclear (and terrorist supporting countries) like Pakistan, it is no wonder why every ME country wants nukes.

It is most likely Osama Bin Ladin is in Pakistan, why doesn't the U.S. do something about it? Oh yeah, they have gone nuclear.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make that connection and why every country wants to go nuclear.

 

[bub]

I not only believe they can, but they will. It won't be easy, but unless Obama orders US Forces to attack the Israelis to defend Iran... they'll do it. they won't risk having a nuclear showdown with Iran. And if it goes to that point... they won't hit Iran with conventional weapons, it will be with nuclear weapons.

and why doesn't Israel attack Pakistan? They are islamists too!

 

[Renae]

and why doesn't Israel attack Pakistan? They are islamists too!

Probably because Pakistan isn't A: spouting off they'll destroy Israel, B: can't really hit Israel...

I dunno, that's two good reasons, but I guess that's too deep for you.

 

[American]

From the other thread on this:

Yeah, Commy told me not to worry, the Iranians weren't going to build any nukes because they don't have the stuff.

 

[TheNextEra]

Probably because Pakistan isn't A: spouting off they'll destroy Israel, B: can't really hit Israel...

I dunno, that's two good reasons, but I guess that's too deep for you.

Nope they just have Al-Qaeda operating in their country. But I guess that isn't a concern of yours is it since Pakistan is a nuclear country.

 

[obvious Child]

Re: Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

I am as concerned about the Israelis having nukes as I am the French and Brits having them.

Iran having nukes will lead to a nuclear exchange in the ME.

Perhaps, but not in the conventional sense. Iran having nukes is like Japan having nukes. Neither country would use them. But their ownership would frightening the pants off everyone around them causing them to acquire weapons.

The law of large numbers takes over and eventually some accident, theft or misunderstanding and the region gets glassed.

 

[obvious Child]

Nope they just have Al-Qaeda operating in their country. But I guess that isn't a concern of yours is it since Pakistan is a nuclear country.

Well, you are talking to people who have backed Bush and his utter failure to frankly do anything about terrorist nuclear weapon proliferation.

Therefore it makes perfect sense why they don't give a hoot about the real potential of Pakistan nuclear devices falling in the hands of Bin Laden and Co. Allegedly, there were rumors during the worst of the Musharraf days where the US was planning surgical strikes on Pakistani nuclear assets to prevent terrorists from acquiring such devices.

 

[obvious Child]

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Yes that's right folks. The Israelis aren't gonna sit around and wait for the Obama folks to save them. How long till Israel hits Iran?

I'm betting May, early June at the latest. They won't wait, and shouldn't wait. Diplomacy has failed.

lol.

Ah, the gallery wishes to pretend it understand something it clearly doesn't.

And by gallery, I mean you.

First of all, to produce a viable weapon made from LEU would required obscene amounts of it. Given the estimates from other sources, the bomb's uranium alone would weigh over a ton. Start to add on the large number of shaped charged and neutron deflectors to produce the necessary compression to actually make a critical mass and the weight is almost assured to go skywards. US warheads' mass is not largely the critical mass. Much of the weight is the necessarily tools to create the explosion based around a highly enriched core of either uranium or plutonium. Fat Man was over 10,000 lbs.

LOL. Oh this is GOOD.

Iran Missiles

The only way the Iranians are going to delivery this weapon is by semi-truck.

 

[Kandahar]

FT.com / Middle East / Politics & Society - Iran holds enough uranium for bomb

Yes that's right folks. The Israelis aren't gonna sit around and wait for the Obama folks to save them. How long till Israel hits Iran?

I'm betting May, early June at the latest. They won't wait, and shouldn't wait. Diplomacy has failed.

Israel isn't going to hit Iran, and to hope for that is just a futile effort to avoid actually thinking about the problem and how best to solve it.

 

[Renae]

lol.

Ah, the gallery wishes to pretend it understand something it clearly doesn't.

And by gallery, I mean you.

First of all, to produce a viable weapon made from LEU would required obscene amounts of it. Given the estimates from other sources, the bomb's uranium alone would weigh over a ton. Start to add on the large number of shaped charged and neutron deflectors to produce the necessary compression to actually make a critical mass and the weight is almost assured to go skywards. US warheads' mass is not largely the critical mass. Much of the weight is the necessarily tools to create the explosion based around a highly enriched core of either uranium or plutonium. Fat Man was over 10,000 lbs.

LOL. Oh this is GOOD.

Iran Missiles

The only way the Iranians are going to delivery this weapon is by semi-truck.

You really have no clue how a nuclear weapon works do you?

You only need about 40lbs of HEU, which is the step they are at now... they either reconfigure their known plants or they have something set up elsewhere... take 4-6 months max to process what they have.

And fatman was bulky because of the era... we didn't know better... explosives were different... a fission bomb is at the heart of every one of our modern nuclear weapons... it don't take much set one off.
YouTube - M65 Recoiless Nuclear Rifle

Do you really think it's much secret how that thing works?

And using that you could attempt a multistage fusion weapon....