DoD report reveals extent of Israel’s unconventional weapons programs

DoD report reveals extent of Israel’s unconventional weapons programs

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Israels nuclear program

In perfect timing, concomitant with the intensifying dispute over the planned speech before Congress by Israel’s prime minister concerning the unfolding deal with Iran over its nuclear program, the Defense Department releases a report which sheds light on the extensive support by US administrations for Israel’s various nuclear programs over the years.

“I am stunned by the extent of the cooperation between Israel and US in the field of unconventional weapons,” said Roger Mattson, former member of the Atomic Energy Commission’s technical staff.

The report, entitled “Critical Technology Assessment in Israel and NATO Nations“, compiled back in 1987, compares Israel’s nuclear facilities to the US labs at Los Alamos and Oak Ridge, where the first atomic bombs were designed and manufactured during World War II and thereafter. The report, which was classified ’Top Secret’ until it was leaked or intentionally released, notes that Israel “is developing codes designed to produce hydrogen bombs.”

Here are several highlights of the report:

“Based on the guidance of the sponsor [DoD], the team of experts visited, at times with IDA [Institute for Defense Analyses] representation, selected companies and laboratories in Israel and Europe to evaluate their technology base. The United States Embassies in each country were notified by the Department of Defense of the visits and that the visits would on an informal and unclassified basis. While the embassies were not asked to provide assistance, nonetheless they did provide assistance in varying degrees. Their assistance is appreciated.”

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Purpose of this report

“This report describes in scientific terms the technological details of basic research and development program thrusts in Israel and selected European allied nations with possible applications to U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) programs, both tactical and strategic. The report is organized to provide a comprehensive critical assessment of technologies relevant to the new North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) initiatives, Nunn Amendment programs and Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) Organization (SDIO) programs.”

Soreq

“The Soreq and the Dimona / Beer Sheba facilities are the equivalent of our Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. The Soreq center runs the full nuclear gamut of activities from engineering, administration and non-destructive testing to electro-optics, pulsed power, process, engineering and chemistry and nuclear research and safety. This is the technology base required for nuclear weapons design and fabrication. The facility operates an extensive contract research and development program, with contracts let to scientific services, prototype and small scale production.”

For further details, see

http://www.courthousenews.com/2015/02/12/nuc%20report.pdf