ISRAEL: Science against nuclear proliferation

For the last several years, Israel has been keeping a watchful eye on the evolution of Iran's nuclear program and warning the international community that it's not an exclusively Israeli problem. For now, the new U.S.  administration is seeking opportunities for dialogue with Iran. This week Israel outlined to visiting Secretary of State Hillary Clinton the red lines it would like the U.S. to incorporate in this dialogue. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warns that "time is running out," and a new report suggests Israel might not wait for a diplomatic solution.

But science might succeed where diplomacy fails.

Engineers from Ben-Gurion University have developed a technique to "de-claw" plutonium created in large nuclear reactors, making it unsuitable for use in nuclear arms. The addition of americium, a form of the basic synthetic element found in commercial smoke detectors, "denatures" the plutonium, ensuring it can be used for peaceful purposes only. Americium is meant for pressurized water reactors, like the one being built in Iran.

The news release explains this method could take the sting out of more than a dozen countries currently developing nuclear reactors if the U.S., Russia, Germany, France and Japan agree to add the denaturing additive to all plutonium, because these countries also provide the nuclear fuel for the reactors they sell. Among those developing reactors are Bahrain, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen, Namibia and Libya. The client countries would then "have to use it for peaceful purposes rather than warfare," says Professor Yigal Ronen of Ben-Gurion University, who headed the project. However, countries that make nuclear fuel could decide not to denature it for themselves, he says.

And, of course, the technique won't help when it comes to the countries suspected of selling nuclear know-how.

-- Batsheva Sobelman in Jerusalem

Comments

[Jake]

Ziggy,

Israel has no obligation to listen YOU or ANYONE ELSE, when dealing with a regime that has been inciting DEATH and DESTRUCTION against its people for decades.

Until you look at this conflict from the perspective of INNOCENT Israeli citizens, you will always align yourself with the intellectual & self destructive logic of liberal America.

[Bob]

Iran hasn't been able to show the rest of the world any sort of behavior suggesting that it is a rational actor in world politics. Ahmadinejad serves as the mouthpiece of very influential Muslim authority which seeks to undermine the very forces designed to keep the world in check and ensure reasonable expectations can be met.

Why would anyone not get hot under the collar knowing these nuts have nuclear weapons?

Western Civilization ought to take the stand and declare this situation as what it really is: dangerous and menacing to any and all non-Muslims. Give Iran an inch and they'll demand two more, try to take it back and they'll whip out a thesaurus and search under discrimination.

Anything that disrupts Iran's nuclear program is fine by me.

[Joe]

Israel should set a example by practicing what she preaches, they should use them on their own nuclear weapon production lines as good faith measure!

[Ziggy]

It seems very hypocritical that Israel, a nation that has NOT signed the NPT, but has a known arsenal of at least 200 nuclear weapons, is warning the "Internatnional Community" about Iran, who HAS signed the NPT, who is abiding by its requirements, according to the IAEA and who has the INALIENABLE RIGHT under that treaty to enrich as much uranium as it wishes. I am a great supporter of Israel, but I don't think Israel has any right to say anything whatsoever about Iran's LEGAL RIGHT to a nuclear program, especially when not a shred of evidence has been produced to show that Iran is in fact building nuclear weapons. Until such hard evidence emerges, then NOBODY, not the USA, not Britain, not Israel and not the UN, has any right to interfere in Iran's LEGAL pursuit of nuclear energy. Until somebody can show that Iran is actilng illegally, then there's no more to talk about. And by the way, Iran does NOT have to prove anything to the USA about this, nor even bother to refute those American allegations. It's up to the Americans to provide hard evidence to back up their claims of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, not up to the Iranians to try and prove a negative, which is impossible anyway. So those nations accusing Iran of a nuclear weapons program, put up or shut up.