Israel’s nuclear weapons program reveals that the United States plays a dual role [photos]
The Negev Nuclear Research Center photographed by Corona reconnaissance satellite in 1971.
China Net News
Disclosure of Israel’s nuclear weapons program
Israel? ? A Jewish country surrounded by Arab countries, a country that has suffered from genocide, must have a strong sense of crisis, or it can be said that there is no "sense of security." Therefore, Israel has always been pursuing a "killer" to protect itself. "Nuclear power" is undoubtedly the best choice. Facts have undoubtedly proved this point. Through unremitting efforts, Israel has the ability to produce and manufacture nuclear weapons, becoming the country with the most nuclear power outside the five nuclear powers. However, due to various political factors, Israel has never declared that it possesses nuclear weapons, so how did Israel’s nuclear program begin to develop? What will be the future direction?
Start a nuclear program
Documented research on Israel’s nuclear technology began at the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1948. At that time, Israel was short of human, material and financial resources. However, in this case, Israel actively cooperates with other countries and makes full use of existing human resources to seek technological breakthroughs and make secret preparations for developing nuclear weapons. In 1950, Israel established an Atomic Energy Commission composed of eight members, which was led by the Ministry of National Defense and later upgraded to the Ministry. The Israeli Prime Minister personally chaired it and was responsible for the planning and management of national atomic energy research. At the same time, the Weizmann Institute in Israel has set up an isotope research department and sent young Israeli scientists abroad to study emerging disciplines such as nuclear energy and nuclear chemistry. Ernest, the father of Israel’s atomic bomb? David? Bergman was then the director of the chemistry department of the hospital. In 1953, then Israeli Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense Ben? Gurion appointed his disciple Simon? Perez is the director of the office of the Ministry of National Defense, assisting him in the development of nuclear weapons in Israel, and placing the Israel Atomic Energy Commission under the direct jurisdiction of Perez. Shortly thereafter, with the assistance of the United States, France, South Africa and other countries, Israel’s ambitious nuclear weapons development work was officially launched.
American support
The United States always plays a dual role in Israel’s nuclear program. Show opposition and supervision. In fact, it indulged and even provided some help. In 1955, after the Israeli government signed an agreement on the peaceful use of atomic energy, its nuclear research was supported by the United States. In February 1957, with the assistance of the United States, Israel built the first nuclear reactor in Richanzion. The reactor, with a power of 6 MW, is made of natural uranium and is mainly used for the research and production of radioisotopes. In 1959, Israel built the Nahar Sorek Reactor IRR-1, a 5 MW light water reactor aided by the United States. However, the reactor has been supervised by the Americans and cannot be used for military purposes. Under such circumstances, in order to achieve the goal of developing nuclear weapons, Israel has secretly cooperated with France and South Africa for several years, which has played an important role in the successful development of its nuclear weapons.
Cooperation with France
France was the original partner of Israel’s nuclear program. When talking about the cooperation between the two countries, we have to mention Ernst David Begemann, the father of Israeli nuclear weapons. At the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, about 30 or 40 brilliant Israeli scientists moved to Palestine. Among them was Begemann, who later became the director of Israel Atomic Energy Commission and the founder of Israel’s nuclear weapons development. In 1949, Begemann was in charge of the Chemistry Department of Weizmann College. The college has given strong support to his nuclear research. In the same year, Begemann’s good friend, French nuclear physicist Francis Perrin, a member of the Atomic Energy Commission, visited Weizmann College. Earlier, Israeli scientists were also invited to visit the newly-built nuclear research facility of the French Saclay Nuclear Research Center. Subsequently, the two countries established a joint research and development relationship. In a sense, this cooperative relationship was established by Israel through the personal relationship of its own experts.
The level of nuclear technology in France at that time was also quite limited. Before World War II, France had a nuclear physics research center, but its technology was far behind the United States, the former Soviet Union and Britain, and even Canada. Israel and France should belong to the same technical level at that time. Israeli experts have probably contributed to the development of nuclear technology in France. In the early 1950s, the two countries were very close in nuclear technology research and development. For example, Israeli scientists participated in the construction of French plutonium G-1 nuclear reactor and UP1 nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Makule. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the relationship between Israel and France became closer. France has become the main supplier of Israeli weapons. When France’s colonial process in North Africa was unstable, Israel provided it with some valuable information. This information was obtained from Spanish Jews in some colonial countries in North Africa.
The direct cause of the nuclear cooperation between Israel and France is the Suez crisis. In October 1956, Israel and France, together with Britain, launched the "Joint Suez-Mount Sinai" campaign against Egypt. A month and a half before the action, Israel realized that it was time to ask France to help it build a nuclear reactor. A year ago, there was a precedent. The Atomic Energy Agency of India (DAE) reached an agreement with Canada and the United States to build a 40 MW "CIRUS" research reactor. Shimon Perez and Begemann, an important aide of Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister David Ben Gurion, met with members of the French Atomic Energy Commission. The two sides reached a preliminary consensus to build a research nuclear reactor in September. On October 29th, the Suez War broke out. Although Israel’s action was very successful, it occupied the entire Suez Peninsula before November 4th. However, France and Britain got into trouble in the attack along the Suez Canal on November 6, and then they were defeated under the pressure of the United States and the Soviet Union. The withdrawal of Britain and France left Israel alone and under great pressure from two superpowers. Bulganin, the prime minister of the Soviet Union, warned that the Soviet Union would launch a nuclear attack on Israel if it persisted in not withdrawing its troops from Mount Sinai. On November 7, 1956, Israeli Foreign Minister Golda? Meir, Perez and French Foreign and Defense Minister Christian? Pino and bourget Moru had a secret meeting. The French side is very annoyed that it has not successfully supported its allies in its own operations.However, Israel is very concerned about the nuclear threat of the Soviet Union. At this meeting, the two sides reached a preliminary agreement on improving the research nuclear reactor. Perez seems to want to ensure that an agreement is reached to help Israel develop its nuclear deterrent capability. A few months after the talks, Israel built an 18 MW EL-3 research nuclear reactor with the help of France, and mastered the plutonium separation technology. Subsequently, the scale was officially upgraded to 24 MW. However, on the premise of using the plutonium platform with the same capacity, the specifications of the core cooling pipe actually provided to the engineering builders are enough to guarantee the reactor with three times this capacity. How to carry out the upgrade process is still unknown.
Israel secretly built this nuclear reactor in Dimola in the Negev Desert near Beersheba in the south. Hundreds of French engineers and technicians arrived in Beersheba. Although Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev, it is still very small. Some companies involved in the construction of France’s Marcoule nuclear facility have also joined the construction plan. For example, the plutonium separation plants in France and Israel are all built by SGN. In 1958, Dimola tested the EL-102 reactor (French know). The heavy water needed for the reactor was purchased from Norway. Israel reached the deal in the name of power reactor test and agreed to Norway’s 32-year supervision of the peaceful use of heavy water. However, Norway was only allowed to conduct a monitoring once before the heavy water was used in the Dimola nuclear reactor in April 1961. In order to cover up the real content of the plan, the Israeli called the Dimola base a "manganese experimental factory" (although it is obviously not a "textile industrial experimental factory"). However, the U.S. intelligence department learned about the plan in 1958, and used the U-2 reconnaissance plane to reconnoiter the test plan, and determined that it was probably a nuclear reaction system. There is no doubt that the French participated in the plan.
The Negev Nuclear Research Center is the center of Israel’s nuclear weapons program. It is located near the desert city of Dimola, so it is called Dimola for short. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, France built a nuclear reactor and a plutonium production workshop in this center. All the special materials needed to make an atomic bomb are produced in Dimola, including plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride and enriched and un-enriched uranium. But the design and assembly of the atomic bomb were carried out elsewhere.
Because Israel has strictly guarded this airspace, it is impossible to reconnoiter it with ordinary reconnaissance aircraft. In the 1960s, an Israeli Air Force Phantom was shot down because it strayed into this airspace.
Comparison of images taken by "Corona" and commercial imaging satellite "Spot" with low resolution.
On the image of "Spot", the dome building of Dimola nuclear reactor and Machion2 of plutonium production workshop are marked.
Dome building of nuclear reactor in Dimola
In 1960, before the reactor was put into operation, France (then President Charles de Gaulle) reconsidered the transaction and decided to suspend the project. After several months of negotiations, the two sides reached an agreement in November that Israel must promise not to make nuclear weapons and announce this plan to the world, otherwise it will stop the work of the plutonium factory. In 1962, Dimola’s nuclear reactor entered a critical stage. The French re-entered the plutonium building workshop. The whole project is planned to be completed in 1954 or 1965. Obviously, from the beginning, Israel collected reactors and related technologies for military purposes rather than "dual-use" purposes. Dimola (officially known as the Negev Nuclear Technology Research Center) is heavily guarded. In 1967, a Mirage plane of the Israeli Air Force was shot down because it strayed into Dimola airspace. Later, in the late 1960s, Israel was considered as the sixth country in the world to make an atomic bomb.
Seymour? Hirsch said, Levi? Prime Minister Escol delayed the production of nuclear weapons after the completion of the factory in Dimola. However, the reactor is still working, so plutonium collection continues regardless of separation or not. It is now recognized that Israel began plutonium extraction in 1965. The separated plutonium is enough to produce an atomic bomb before the Six-Day War. As for whether there is production or not, it is unknown. Hirsch said, Moxia? Dayan ordered the start of nuclear weapons production in early 1968. Only then did comprehensive plutonium separation begin. When Israel began to produce atomic bombs at a rate of three to five per year, William? Barrowman and Robert? Wen Jiem disclosed in Critical Point that Israel has produced two atomic bombs. Escol did give the first nuclear warning during the Six-Day War and deployed the two atomic bombs. In 1971, Israel began to buy Krytron. Krytron is a kind of high-speed electronic adapter, which can be used in both civilian industry and nuclear weapons production.
Editor: Liu Li