But since Chavez has expressed no desire for nuclear weapons, and, for that matter, neither has Iran, what is the point? And BTW, Duffy old chap, my point was not that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. My point was that if Iran *were* seeking nuclear weapons, they’d be using their heavy water “research” reactor to do so, not the light water reactor and associated infrastructure largely useless for weapons use that for some reason Israel and the U.S. seem fixated upon, perhaps to distract their general public from the failings of their own respective governments…
– Badtux the Nuclear Penguin
.-= last blog ..Quote of the day =-.
As Badtux notes, nothing about the reaction makes sense as anything other than attempt by politicians to divert the public from other, more urgent, problems.
Both Germany and Japan have nuclear reactors, and it wasn’t that long ago that they were rather obvious enemies of most of the world.
]]>The light water reactor is almost certainly for electricity. Iran has an electricity shortage right now and will have one for the foreseeable future and light-water reactors are a piss-poor way of gaining bomb materials, enriched uranium when irradiated simply gains too many non-fissible isotopes of plutonium and you have to short-cycle the reactor (very visible and obvious) if you want to harvest fissionable plutonium. The heavy water reactor, on the other hand… well. That’s how India and Pakistan both got their bomb. You do the math. Yet it is the light water reactor and associated infrastructure that the U.S. and Israel are threatening to bomb. Clearly there is a reason other than fears of Iran gaining a nuclear weapon at work here, that’s apparent even to bird-brained penguins, much less to a supposedly thinking human being with a multi-pound brain. But then, some people seem to use their brains for paperweights rather than for thinking. It is to laugh.
.-= last blog ..The new guitar =-.
And BTW, the light water reactor that the Iranians bought from the Russians is *not* useful for nuclear weapons purposes. It is a standard light water design, meaning that it produces too many contaminant plutonium isotopes to be useful for creating plutonium for nuclear weapons. If you want to look at a weapons reactor, look at the heavy water reactor that the Iranians bought from Pakistan, you can readily irradiate U-238 into Pu-239 in that guy without having to short-cycle because you don’t need to shut down a heavy water reactor to swap fuel rods. Oh wait, Pakistan is our *friend* so for some bizarre reason everybody seems to ignore that reactor (WTF?!) and focus on a program that is clearly a civilian program… it is to laugh.
– Badtux the Nuclear Penguin
.-= last blog ..Future band name =-.
Your ignorance of the situation shows the shallow approach you have to world affairs, but doesn’t stop you from advocating the killing of innocent people.
The Iranian government didn’t stop the nuclear program in 1979, the US and Europe stole their money for the program by refusing to complete contracts, and blocked their access to most sources of the technology. That is why they had to go to the black market for their program. It is the blow-back from another stupid decision.
The original system couldn’t be readily converted for weapons purposes, but the technology they bought to replace it can be. Because the West cut them off from the safer technology, the West left them no choice in the pursuit of nuclear power, which given their pollution problems and reliance on oil exports for hard currency is a cost effective solution.
]]>Iran has had sanctions imposed by multiple countries, including the US, UK, and Europe based on dodgy, if not totally manufactured evidence of the type used to claim Iraq had WMDs stockpiles.
The US backed Iraq in the Iraq-Iran War, and recently the Bush administration and Israel have talked about bombing Iranian facilities.
While Iran hasn’t been totally truthful about all of the side agreements imposed on it, it have never violated the terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It has the right to refine its own fuel under the NPT, and developed the secret site as a direct result of the threat to its main site by Israel.
In the existence of the United States, Iran has never attacked anyone. They are defensively minded and will certainly defend themselves when attacked. They have a minuscule defense budget. They aren’t a threat to anyone but themselves, and if it didn’t have oil, few people would even know Iran existed.
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