Current Events — HabitableZone

Current Events

"U.N. report says Tehran has amassed enough uranium to make atom bomb."

"To date, Iran had enriched more than 1,600 pounds of low-enriched uranium suitable for nuclear fuel, a report earlier from the U.N. energy group said. U.N. officials have said that Tehran would have to produce less than twice that to begin enriching it to the weapons-grade level needed to produce a warhead while other experts have given even lower amounts."

The way that is written there isn't anyplace in the world that doesn't have enough uranium to make a bomb. I would bet there is enough uranium under Central Park to make a bomb if one goes deep enough and gets it all. The issue is the concentration of uranium. The low-enriched fuel the Iranians are making is ~5%. To make a weapon it takes greater than 90% uranium.

"There is a big, big difference between 5% uranium and 90% uranium. It's the difference between nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons. And it's harder than hell to concentrate.

"An IAEA report Thursday showed a significant increase in Iran's reported stockpile of low-enriched uranium (LEU) since November to 1,010 kg, which U.S. analysts said could be converted into enough high-enriched uranium for one bomb."

"Even then, the technical steps needed to "weaponize" enrichment would probably take two to five years."

"A state selecting uranium for its weapons must obtain a supply of uranium ore and construct an enrichment plant because the U-235 content in natural uranium is over two orders of magnitude lower than that found in weapons grade uranium (>90 percent U-235 U). Ordinary natural uranium contains only 0.72 percent 235 U, the highly fissionable isotope, the rest of the material being largely the much less fissionable isotope U-238 (which cannot sustain a chain reaction). The fissile material must be separated from the rest of the uranium by a process known as enrichment. Uranium enriched to 20 percent or more U-235 is called highly enriched (HEU). Uranium enriched above the natural U-235 abundance but to less than 20 percent is called low-enriched (LEU)."

One wouldn't have to wonder very much to figure out who would be perpetrating this deception.

Arf

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