Israel building secret nuclear weapons plant
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February 26, 2021
DUBAI: A secretive Israeli nuclear facility at the center of the nation’s undeclared atomic weapons programme is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press show.
A dig about the size of a soccer field and likely several stories deep now sits just meters (yards) from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona. The facility is already home to decades-old underground laboratories that reprocess the reactor’s spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel’s nuclear bomb programme, foreign media reported.
A secretive Israeli nuclear facility at the center of the nation s undeclared atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press show.
A dig about the size of a soccer field and likely several stories deep now sits just metres from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona. The facility is already home to decades-old underground laboratories that reprocess the reactor s spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel s nuclear bomb program.
What the construction is for, however, remains unclear. The Israeli government did not respond to detailed questions from the AP about the work. Under its policy of nuclear ambiguity, Israel neither confirms nor denies having atomic weapons. It is among just four countries that have never joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty, a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclea
WHITE HOUSE – The president of the United States, always accompanied by a military aide carrying a satchel containing nuclear launch codes, has sole authority to order nuclear warfare or respond in kind to such an enemy attack.
Now, lawmakers of the current president’s own party are asking President Joe Biden to surrender that unilateral power.
Giving one person such authority “entails real risks,” according to a letter endorsed by 31 Democratic members of the House. “Past presidents have threatened to attack other countries with nuclear weapons or exhibited behavior that causes other officials to express concerns about the president’s judgment.”
See images of a secretive Israeli nuclear facility undergoing major construction 1 of 4
This Feb. 22, 2021, satellite photo shows construction near the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, not far from the city of Dimona, Israel. A long-secretive Israeli nuclear facility that gave birth to its undeclared atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, according to analysis by AP. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP) 2 of 4
This Feb. 22, 2021, satellite photo shows construction near the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, not far from the city of Dimona, Israel. A long-secretive Israeli nuclear facility that gave birth to its undeclared atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades, according to analysis by AP. (Planet Labs Inc. via AP)