Haaretz:
"... Speaking to Fox on Monday, Bolton said that Israel was unlikely to attack the Bushehr reactor, saying that "Israel's got a problem.""Once the fuel rods are inserted into the reactor and attack on the reactor would almost certainly release radiation into the atmosphere, given where Bushehr is located right on the Persian Gulf possibly into the water as well," Bolton said, adding that "from Israel's point of view if they were going to do anything militarily about Bushehr you got a few days until the fuel rods are inserted."The former UN envoy also said Israel would not attack the reactor since it was interested in the bigger picture of Iran's nuclear aspirations, saying that Israel has "the rest of Iran's nuclear program, the Iranian enrichment facility and so on to worry about too and I don't think Israel has the luxury to attack in the next few days, wait a few months and attack again."In the interview, Bolton also said that the completion of the reactor was a "significant victory for Iran.""They will be beginning the process of brining online a 1000 megawatt reactor. When it becomes fully operational the spent fuel coming out of the reactor will be plutonium which could be reprocessed chemically and used for nuclear weapons," Bolton said.The former ambassador to the UN added that Iran was "on the verge of achieving something that Saddam Hussein was not ale to achieve, Bashar al-Assad in Syria was not able to achieve and that's getting a second route to nuclear weapons.""It’s a very very significant step forward for the Iranian nuclear program," Bolton said."
2 comments:
"They will be beginning the process of brining online a 1000 megawatt reactor. When it becomes fully operational the spent fuel coming out of the reactor will be plutonium which could be reprocessed chemically and used for nuclear weapons," Bolton said."
Lies, damn lies.
As Juan Cole points out today.
So the reactor is being regularly inspected by the UN, and is a light water reactor which is very difficult if not impossible to use for the production of weapons grade plutonium. But there is more. Russia is providing the nuclear fuel for these reactors and then taking back the spent fuel, so that Iran will not even have the ruined light-water-reactor-produced plutonium, which even if they did have it could not be used to make a bomb.
http://www.juancole.com/2010/08/8169.html
Despite what John Bolton says it is virtually impossible to get weapons grade plutonium from the spent fuel of a light water reactor. Even if it was possible Russia is supplying the fuel and taking it away when it is spent.
As the LA Times Babylon and Beyond blog mentioned a few days ago. IAEA inspectors visit Bushehr an average of 16 days a month.
I will repeat Bushehr is a civilian reactor that produces 1000 MW's of electricity. It is light water not heavy water and is regularly inspected by the IAEA.
Gonzolegend
"... the spent fuel coming out of the reactor will be plutonium which could be reprocessed chemically and used for nuclear weapons," Bolton said."
John Bolton is either incompetant or lying. Spent fuel is not suitable for use in nuclear weapons due to the high levels of Pu-240 and had he spent a twenty minutes of his years government reading the technical information presented to him he would understand that fact.
http://depletedcranium.com/why-you-cant-build-a-bomb-from-spent-fuel/
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