ANALYSIS: The cloudy future of Israel's nuclear reactor

[DavidSling]

It's a "catch 22"- The very thing that could ultimately afford Israel the tools to build a new reactor would also prevent it from using the reactor as a nuclear deterrent.

Dimona nuclear reactor. (photo credit:REUTERS)

The moment of truth for Israel's nuclear policy is nearing. Haim Levinson's publication yesterday in Ha'aretz regarding the defects in the core of the nuclear reactor in Dimona only emphasizes this fact.

Such reactors are normally taken out of service after 40 years or so. Ultrasound examinations found 1537 flaws in the metal core in Dimona, scientist from the facility reported earlier this month, Levinson wrote in Ha'aretz.

These are not defects that can develop to the level of large cracks, that would at this stage cause nuclear radiation emission from the reactor and endanger the surrounding population and environment.

The awareness of these flaws and the projection of their development was extant since the inception of the nuclear reactor. In 2004 similar findings were revealed at a symposium at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba, where senior officials of the Atomic Energy Commission, which is responsible for the reactor in Dimona, admitted that they were encountering difficulties in upgrading the security of the reactor.

The reactor in Dimona, that Israel acquired from France, began to function in 1963. According to the manufacturer's standards, the lifetime of reactors of this type is forty years.

At that convention 12 years ago, the CEO of the Atomic Energy Commission Gidon Frank said that in the US, techniques were developed that allowed for a 20-year extension of the lifetime of reactors. However, the reactor core, which is made from metal and wrapped with a thick layer of concrete that defends against the tremendous radiation from within, cannot be replaced, as there is a leaking water heater there that cannot be fixed.

Today, the reactor in Dimona is 53 years old and has repeatedly received "anti-aging treatment"; the most advanced in the world, but until when? If we rely on the words of Gidon Frank from the convention, then the reactor has another seven years to its life. By then there will be no alternative but to disable the reactor.

The technological problems create a huge dilemma for the longtime Israeli strategy of deterrence. The reactor that Israel acquired from France, had, according to foreign reports, 24 megawatt capacity and was to be used for research purposes. According to these same sources Israel increased its output to 50 megawatts, possibly even more.

According to these foreign reports, since its activation, Israel's reactor has been manufacturing uranium and plutonium, which are the fissile materials for the construction of nuclear weapons. These reports said that the proponents of Israeli nuclear development believed that nuclear weapons would serve as a deterrent and secure Israel's existence for generations.

Concurrently, they also formulated the Israeli policy of nuclear ambiguity, which neither admitted nor denied the existence of nuclear weapons.

In my opinion, the brilliance and boldness of the Israeli policy of nuclear ambiguity proved and continues to prove itself strategically. The success of this policy is evident in the fact that no superpower has demanded of Israel to disarm nuclear capacity, which the world claims Israel has.

However the policy of nuclear ambiguity also prevents Israel from signing the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which also bans the production, stockpiling and spread of nuclear weapons.

This is the predicament in which Israel exists today. Israel does not possess the ability and the materials to build a new reactor and is in need of foreign or international assistance. If Israel were to sign the NPT it would be able to receive nuclear reactors for the purpose of research and generation of electricity, but it would also be mandated that Israel declare and disclose what it has regarding the subject of its nuclear policy, by extension, its monopoly in the Middle East.

The foreign reports indicated that during the years of its reactor's operation, Israel constructed approximately 200 nuclear bombs of all types and sizes as well as the means to launch them, according to one report. According to another more recent report, Israel is in possession of "only" 80 bombs.

This substantial arsenal can continue to ensure Israel's deterrence policy even if the reactor were to close and could not manufacture additional bomb-making materials. But the gleaming dome of the reactor is also a symbol of Israel and its nuclear capability.

Israel will try to extend the lifespan of the reactor as much as possible before its inevitable expiration, when the efficacy of the "anti-aging" remedies will also expire.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/ANALYSIS-The-cloudy-future-of-Israels-nuclear-reactor-452406

 

[DavidSling]

After 53 years, MKs call for emergency meeting to discuss upgrading Dimona nuclear reactor

Built in 1963 using technology acquired from France, the lifetime of the reactor – officially known as the Nuclear Research Center–Negev – is 40 years, according the manufacturer’s specifications.

Dimona nuclear reactor. (photo credit:REUTERS)

The time has come to replace the 53-year-old Dimona nuclear reactor, according to worried officials.

Built in 1963 using technology acquired from France, the lifetime of the reactor – officially known as the Nuclear Research Center–Negev – is 40 years, according the manufacturer’s specifications.

Several members of Knesset are calling for an emergency meeting to be held to discuss the reactor’s safety and replacement. Recently, an ultrasound scan of the reactor’s core, made of metal covered in concrete, revealed 1,537 defects.

In 2004, the issue of obsolescence was discussed at a symposium in Beersheba at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, where officials of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission – which is responsible for the reactor in Dimona – admitted that they were encountering difficulties in upgrading the reactor’s security.

On Wednesday, former Dimona mayor and current Yesh Atid MK Meir Cohen said that an emergency session of the Knesset’s Health Committee will meet as soon as the Knesset returns from its Passover recess.

Speaking on 103 FM Radio, Cohen said that he had a discussion with “the head of the NRCN [Nuclear Research Center–Negev],” who is Ehud Netzer. Cohen was told by him that “the reactor is secure.”

Netzer reportedly told Cohen that the NRCN was “looking into the matters and have the means to look into it,” but Cohen said the response was not enough.

He said the findings are worrying and require an in-depth investigation. “It’s no longer possible to hide behind a veil of secrecy and security,” he said.

“The problem is that all nuclear reactors of this type were shut down after 40 years and the reactor in Dimona has been working since 1963,” he said.

“The head of the NRCN told me he will come to every Knesset committee and reveal everything,” Cohen said, adding that he expects members of the Atomic Energy Commission and NRCN to be present at the Knesset meetings and “lay everything out on the table.”

Meretz MK Michal Rozin was among the voices calling for an emergency session on the issue. In an official letter to Likud MK Tzachi Hanegbi, who chairs the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, she criticized the fact that the reactor is not subject to outside inspection, neither foreign nor domestic.

“The nuclear reactor is not under any sort of inspection aside from the body that runs it, the Israel Atomic Energy Commission,” she wrote.

She also noted that in 64 years that the Atomic Energy Commission has been in existence, the nuclear reactor’s activities have not been legally laid out nor has there been any sort of public body to check it.

A 1980 law regarding radioactive materials, she said, states that the Atomic Energy Commission is not subject to its guidelines.

“If the current state of affairs continues,” she wrote, “it endangers the IAEC’s work, its workers’ health, the environment, the health and well-being of Israeli citizens and national security.”

Zionist Union MK Yael Cohen-Paran called the situation worrying, saying that it raises “difficult questions about the NRCN’s management.”

She said that she intends to request data about the reactor from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Atomic Energy Commission Hadash MK Dov Henin criticized what he called a national policy of staying mum on any nuclear issue.

He said that the reactor should have been replaced long ago, and demanded that an external, expert body inspect the reactor and present a report to the Knesset.

In January 2012, media reports indicated that the Atomic Energy Commission had decided to, at least temporarily, shut down the reactor. The site’s vulnerability to attack from Iran was cited as the main reason for the decision.

In October and November 2012, it was reported that Hamas had fired rockets at Dimona and/or the NRCN.

In July 2014, Hamas again fired rockets toward the area surrounding the reactor. The aging facility was not harmed or damaged in any of the attempted strikes.

http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Af...scuss-upgrading-Dimona-nuclear-reactor-452571

 

[Stephen Cohen]

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