Iran not working on bomb: Israel intelligence head

[bemildred]

JERUSALEM — Iran is not currently working on producing a nuclear weapon but could make one within "a year or two" of taking such a decision, Israel's military intelligence chief said on Tuesday.

"The question is not when Iran will acquire the bomb, but how long until the leader decides to begin enriching (uranium) at 90 percent," Brigadier General Aviv Kochavi told parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee in his first briefing since taking up the role in November.

Once such a decision is made, it would take "a year or two" to produce a nuclear warhead, he said, adding that Iran would then need more time to develop an effective missile delivery system for it.

Kochavi said it was unlikely that Iran, which currently enriches uranium to 20 percent, would start enriching it to the 90 percent level needed for a bomb, because it would be in open breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty exposing it to harsher sanctions or even a US or Israeli military strike.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gShKfmWcoQ1ABBQ_DodMUUh61ckA?docId=CNG.95111380dfbe35f8a08d6124c5e915e8.e11

About right, I think, although you don't really need 90% for a bomb, it's much less.

[azurnoir]

1. Do those intent on spreading the nuclear Iran scare

have a field of daises they go to

they're building, they're building, they're building, they're building not, they're building, they're building, they're building, they're building not .........

seems like it

[shaayecanaan]

2. You need 90% unless you have some mad skillz...

90% is the amount you need in order to be able to use a simple rack type bomb mechanism (the type used for the Hiroshia bomb). Theoretically, you can use even 20% enriched uranium but you would need an extremely refined and very efficient timing device.

[bemildred]

3. Opinions seem to vary about that, I read 85% plus is "weapons grade".

Less than that is "weapons usable", and you are right that 20% won't get you much but a dirty bomb, and it isn't something I claim to know much about. Still, Chernoble was quite a mess, and will be for a long time.

[shaayecanaan]

4. Its much easier to go from 85% to 90% than it is from 3% to 20%

When you are at 3% U-235 (which is lightly enriched) you're only harvesting a tiny amount from the centrifuges. Its like panning for gold, the smaller the amount of gold in the pan the more painstaking it is to try and winnow everything else away.

But yeah, 85% should get you there.