So Does Iran Even Have a Nuke... er... are they close?

[stepnw1f]

If they are, please post the info....

If not, please post info....

I would like to see what folks find.

[Virginia Dare]

1. Ten years away...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/01/AR2005080101453_pf.html

[stepnw1f]

3. thank you (nt)

[Gwerlain]

5. Yep, though perhaps not quite [i]that[/i] far...

I'd say minimum four years, and more like eight to ten realistically, unless they get some unexpected help. The report says they have no plutonium, and not much prospect of making any; so they're stuck doing isotope separation on uranium, a tedious, expensive, and long process. The advantages of uranium are that it is easier to construct a reliable weapon from it engineering-wise, and it's easier to handle because it's not nearly as radioactive as plutonium is.

ETA: But they have uranium mines, and watch out if they make a breeder reactor.

[Tom Joad]

2. NO! Maybe in ten years. India, Pakistan, and Israel have nukes.

Iran has said that Nuclear Weapons are violations of the Muslim faith.
But no one is claiming they have nuclear weapons now. Not even bush boys.

[mike_c]

4. they've enriched a few grams of uranium to 3.5 percent...

..U²³⁵, while weapons grade enrichment requires 90 percent or better, and in significantly greater quantities-- and that doesn't even begin to address production issues. I believe the IAEA estimates they are at least 6-10 years from a working bomb-- if that is their intention.

[Bucky]

6. No WAIT!! New documents just found. Iran is buying Uranium from, um, Biger

yeh, that's it, from the country of Biger!

[stepnw1f]

7. lol... (nt)

[stepnw1f]

8. .