Word: tammuz
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Russell became absorbed in the proliferation problem while writing TIME's 1981 cover story on the Israeli attack against Iraq's Tammuz nuclear reactor. At that time, remembers Russell, "I called down 30 or 40 books on the subject, some of them absolutely opaque." Since then, Russell has added to his knowledge by plowing through several cubic feet of nuclear literature, including an impressive stack of documents assembled by Reporter-Researcher Edward Desmond for this week's story. "The more you know about this problem," says Russell, "the less obvious the solutions...
...agency's safeguards system has seldom been openly called into question. In 1981, following the Israeli attack on Iraq's Tammuz reactor, two inspectors unconnected with the facility resigned, charging suspicious Iraqi delays in allowing agency visits at the site. But France subsequently revealed that under a secret agreement with Iraq, French technicians had kept a constant eye on the workings of the Tammuz plant. That same year, while negotiating an upgraded agreement with Pakistan over safeguards at its Canadian-built reactor, the agency, without alleging any wrongdoing, said that it was unable to certify the facility. About two years...
American officials were not alone last week in expressing doubts that Iraq could have produced materials for nuclear weapons within months of activating the 70-MW Tammuz reactor. That crucial Israeli contention did get some support, but also a lot more detailed criticism, from an impressive array of international nuclear scientists and Western government officials...
...nuclear chicanery was disputed in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by Roger Richter, an American married to an Israeli, who resigned last week as an inspector for the international agency. Richter, who had been assigned to cover the area including Iraq but had never personally inspected the Tammuz reactor, said that the Iraqis could have concealed bombmaking efforts during IAEA inspection visits. Richter also said he believed the Iraqis wanted to make bombs within five years...
Technically, there is little doubt among experts that the Tammuz reactor, with modifications, could have produced bomb-grade plutonium. But the burden of proof that Iraq planned to do so still rested squarely on the Israelis...