Iran: UN Questions Experiments on Nuclear Warhead Design

The Guardian (UK) reported November 5 that the International Atomic Energy Agency, the nuclear watchdog group for the United Nations, has asked Iran to provide an explanation for evidence that indicates Iran has conducted work on an advanced nuclear warhead design.

The story says, "The very existence of the technology, known as a 'two-point implosion' device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as 'breathtaking' and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis."

If Iran could master the technology, the Guardian says, Tehran could produce smaller and simpler warheads. The end result is a nuclear warhead that is less difficult to attach to a missile. Given Iran's ongoing work with medium and long-range missiles, this latest development is particularly troubling. Combining the two makes for a worrisome scenario. 

The Guardian continues: "Documentation referring to experiments testing a two-point detonation design are part of the evidence of nuclear weaponisation gathered by the IAEA and presented to Iran for its response. The dossier, titled 'Possible Military Dimensions of Iran's Nuclear Program', is drawn in part from reports submitted to it by western intelligence agencies. The agency has in the past treated such reports with scepticism, particularly after the Iraq war. But its director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said the evidence of Iranian weaponisation 'appears to have been derived from multiple sources over different periods of time, appears to be generally consistent, and is sufficiently comprehensive and detailed that it needs to be addressed by Iran'."

Of course, this is one more consideration for the United States and its European allies in the quest for meaningful sanctions that might actually get Tehran's attention and force a real dialogue about Iran's nuclear pursuits. I suspect Iran will take its sweet time before responding to the IAEA's request for an explanation.

The Guardian says, "Iran has rejected most of the IAEA material on weaponisation as forgeries, but has admitted carrying out tests on multiple high-explosive detonations synchronised to within a microsecond. Tehran has told the agency that there is a civilian application for such tests, but has so far not provided any evidence for them. Western weapons experts say there are no such civilian applications, but the use of co-ordinated detonations in nuclear warheads is well known. They compress the fissile core, or pit, of the warhead until it reaches critical mass."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/05/iran-tested-nuclear-warhead-design