Dimona’s secret nuclear facility is undergoing a major project

Excavations about the size of a football field and perhaps several deep stories now sit just meters (yards) from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona, satellite images showing. The facility is reportedly already home to underground laboratories that will recycle used reactor rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel’s nuclear bomb program.

But why the construction remains unclear. The government did not respond to detailed questions from the AP about the work. Under its policy of nuclear insecurity, Israel does not affirm or deny its possession of atomic weapons. It is among just four countries that have never signed up to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a major international treaty that banned the spread of nuclear weapons.

The build-up comes as Israel – under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – maintains its scathing criticism of Iran’s nuclear program, which remains under the watchful eye of UN investigators unlike his own. That has sparked calls among experts for Israel to publicly announce information about their program.

“What the Israeli government is doing at this secret nuclear weapons base is something for the Israeli government to come to terms with,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association.

With French support, Israel secretly began building the nuclear site in the late 1950s in an empty desert near Dimona, a city about 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Jerusalem. He hid for the purpose of the site’s weapons for years from America, now a major ally of Israel, even referring to it as a clothing factory.

With plutonium from Dimona, Israel is widely believed to be one of only nine countries with nuclear weapons in the world. Given the secrecy surrounding his program, it is unclear how many weapons he has. Analysts estimate that Israel has material for at least 80 bombs. These weapons could be delivered by landed ballistic missiles, combat jets or submarines.

For decades, the shape of the Dimona facility has remained the same. However, last week, the International Panel on Fine Materials at Princeton University noted that they had seen a “major new build” on the site through commercially available satellite images, although little detail could be taken. to make information.

Satellite images captured Monday by Planet Labs Inc. after a request from the AP give the clearest view yet of the activity. Just southwest of the reactor, workers have dug a hole about 150 meters (165 yards) long and 60 meters (65 yards) wide. Tails can be seen from the excavation adjacent to the site. A ditch about 330 meters (360 yards) runs close to the excavation.

About 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) west of the reactor, boxes are stacked in two rectangular holes that appear to have concrete foundations. Tails can be seen from the nearby excavation. Similar concrete batches are often used to capture nuclear waste.

Other images from Planet Labs suggest that excavation near the reactor began in early 2019 and has progressed slowly since then.

Analysts who spoke to the AP made a number of suggestions about what might be happening there.

The centre’s heavy water reactor has been in operation since the 1960s, far exceeding most reactors at the same time. That raises both efficiency and safety issues. In 2004, soldiers even began administering iodine pills in Dimona in case of radioactive leakage from the facility. Iodine helps prevent the body from absorbing radiation.

These safety concerns could see authorities decommissioning or redesigning the reactor, analysts say.

“I believe that the Israeli government is concerned about maintaining and maintaining the country’s current nuclear capabilities,” said Avner Cohen, a professor of non-proliferation studies at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey, which has written extensively on Dimona.

“If in fact the Dimona reactor gets closer to being decommissioned, as I believe, Israel would be expected to ensure that some of the reactor’s responsibilities, which remain necessary, put in their place. “

Kimball, of the Arms Control Association, suggested that Israel may want to produce more tritium, a radioactive byproduct that decays faster and is used to stimulate the explosive production of some nuclear warheads. It may also want new plutonium “to replace or extend the life of a warlord already in Israel ‘s nuclear arsenal,” he said.

Israel raised its nuclear weapons in the face of several wars with its Arab neighbors since its establishment in 1948 after the Holocaust. An atomic weapons program, even undetected, allowed it to defeat enemies.

As peres, who led the nuclear program and later became Israel ‘s prime minister and president, said in 1998: “We have built a nuclear option, not for Hiroshima, but for Oslo. The first U.S. nuclear bombing in World War II and the interim peace treaty with Palestinians signed in the 1990s, known as the Oslo Accords.

But Israel’s independence strategy is also drawing criticism from opponents. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took office at Dimona this week as his country prepares to restrict access by the DA’s International Atomic Energy Organization amid tensions with the West over the 2015 nuclear deal of which fell.

“Any talk of concern about Iran ‘s nuclear program is completely zero,” Zarif told the English arm of Iranian TV television. “Let’s be clear about that: It’s hypocrisy.”

The timing of Dimona’s construction surprised Valerie Lincy, executive director of the Washington-based Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Weapons Control.

“I think the most interesting thing is … you have a country that is very aware of the power of satellite images and especially the way in which multiplication targets are monitored using those images. , “said Lincy.” In Israel, you have a known nuclear target for exploration, which is the Dimona reactor. So you would think that anything they wanted to keep under the radar would be kept under the radar. “

In the 1960s, Israel used its claims about Egypt ‘s enemy missiles and nuclear efforts to divert attention from its work at Dimona – and may have chosen to do the same with Iran now.

“If you are an Israeli and need to undertake a major eye-catching construction project at Dimona, this is probably the time when you would be screaming the most about the Iranians,” he said. Jeffrey Lewis, a professor also teaches non-diversity issues at Middlebury.