The Top Secret Israeli nuclear plant is located in southern Israel. It has been in existence for over 50 years (I believe). As far as its activities, I also thing that it manufactures, maintains and store nuclear bombs.
My question: given its importance, I’m sure that it is well defended from attack-but are the buildings themselves bomb-proof?
Suppose the Iranians were to launch an attack upon Dimona-destroying the buildings would likely disperse radioactive material around a wide area… would this result in a huge death toll?
I haven’t read much about this facility (since the revelations of Mordecai Vanunu came out). Is the facility in any danger of destruction from an air attack?
I’m betting the Israelis have thought of that… but I’m not sure anyone on this board has ready access to that information. Watch, someone will prove me wrong. Don’t they have American made Patriot anti-missile systems?
I think there’s fairly good knowledge that most of that facility is deep underground.
Methinks this thread may be the first GQ ever posted at the Dope to which nobody here can provide a detailed answer.
Woe be unto us, fellow Dopers!
----or can someone arise to the challenge?
Logic would lead us to answer the question with an unequivocal Yes. The Israelis aren’t stupid, and they’ve had 50 years to build, bury and buttress the place against attack. I doubt very much that nuclear materials are stored in a place where they would be subject to dispersal due to aircraft bombs.
Do you think the Israelis would openly talk about the defense of a military installation they denied ever existed? Unless someone on the SDMB happens to work for Mossad, I think all we can expect to get is speculation.
Israel has never denied the existence of Dimona…in Ben-Gurion’s words “Dimona…that’s a textile factory”.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Middle_East/article852867.ece#
Possibly not that we’ll defended if this article is correct
Well does anyone have any idea where Israel’s nuclear weapons are? Obviously Dimona is their nuclear weapon production facility, but couldn’t they have nuclear bombs and missiles on their air force and navy vehicles? Do they have ICBMs?
Why in the world would they possess ICBMs? All of their enemies are much closer than intercontinental range.
Nobody here has the actual information. But for the production facility to be unprotected would require that the Israelis be stupid and lax about security. Neither is the case. Ergo, their production facility is a very secure site, if it is in fact in the OPs stated location. Also, it is a good bet that their nuclear arsenal is in a number of dispersed and secure and highly secret places.
Dispersed? Yes. Secure? Most certainly. Secret? No. Finding out where strategic launchers are housed is fairly easy to do and as a result declared nuclear powers don’t usually even bother to hide that. So I doubt that the Israelis make much of an effort to hide that beyond the general “we don’t comment on nukes policy”.
If the article I posted above is correct and they shut Dimona down in Jan then its most likely because they don’t need it. They have more than enough weapons for their needs already they don’t need to produce or enrich more weapons grade plutonium. The actual weapons would be deployed in dispersed areas as you say, this report claims plutonium pits can last up to 85 years so there is not going to be any need to make new warheads for a long time.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6559214