The uranium bomb was so 'simple' that the folks at Los Alamos didn't even bother to test it.

Two hemispheres of uranium, at either end of a gun barrel. Fire one into the other - and... all you need is enough enriched uranium to make a critical mass.

Crap. I didn't need to read this tonight.

J.

I think the Iranians should test it. Right after they light a match to see if there's any gasoline in the gas tank.

IF and that is a BIG if Iran developed the Bomb...then very soon either the US or Israel will take the action that the UN should have the balls to do....but never do...actually destroy those plants by any means necessary.

Let's see: Iran, (in accordance with the IAEA) officially announces uranium enrichment capacity for eventual "electricity generation". This puts President Blowhard in a bit of a predicament because, according to the world's worst geopolitical poker player (W), we must Attack. Now this will likely result in the fall of Mushareff in Pakistan and will give the Islamic radicals their very own ready arsenal of nukes. Bad for our positions in Afghanistan and Iraq, too. NOW all of the sudden there's scuttlebutt in favor of releasing the Mossad spy Jonathan Pollard from prison in the US! Are we being blackmailed by Israel and is Bush being hoisted on his own petard? Due to the VERY likely blowback of executing the nuclear-tipped option on Iran, is Israel threatening a submarine-launched false-flag operation to do the job for us? They have a built-in alibi in W's incessant pronouncements. OR are we welcoming a new ally in Israel to the GWOT? That's a happier outcome, of course. Either way: Why Is W Suddenly Eager To Free Pollard?

Of course Iran doesn't have plans to develop "a nuclear weapon" they have plans to develop an arsenal of nuclear weapons. You have to ask the right questions to get meaningful answers.

On a related note, some people might find this timeline of fission weapon development to be informative. For example:

September, 1944 -
* At this point K-25 is half built, but no usable diffusion barriers have been produced. The Y-12 plant is operating at only 0.05% efficiency. The total production of highly enriched uranium to date is a few grams.

December, 1944 -
* Y-12 output climbs to 90 grams of highly enriched uranium a day.

August 6, 1945 -
* 0916:02 (8:16:02 Hiroshima time) - Little Boy explodes at an altitude of 1850 feet, 550 feet from the aim point, the Aioi Bridge, with a yield of 12.5-18 kt (best estimate is 15 kt).

And this was 60+ years ago. While America was pursuing multiple routes to weapons production simultaneously (multiple Uranium enrichment technologies, as well as Plutonium implosion) and was researching and developing them at each and every step. Today nuclear fission science is well understood. Similarly, technological and industrial advancements have dramatically reduced the cost and difficulty of pursuing a project of this nature. The US in 1944 was not even fully electrified, and many homes did not have telephones.

Keep that in mind.

con't: Here's the Pollard-Bush link. Just in case somebody cares to interpret it themselves and because the metalinks have dissappeared SUDDENLY. Just a coincidence, I'm sure. Click on cache URL. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/print.php3?what=news&id=101797

I think we're screwed.

- The UN has no stomach for a confrontation with Tehran. Even if it had, the Russians and Chinese would block it (can you say, "No war for oil", anyone?).

- Thanks to the anti-war left and three years of vicious propaganda about Iraq, I doubt that Bush has enough political capital to get the Congress to go along with even a limited strike. That idiot Hans Blix was chiming off the other day that, in his opinion, Iran is five years from a Bomb, giving us PLENTY of time to reach a "negotiated settlement". (Ever seen the movie "Team America"? Then join me in a rousing "F*** you, Hans Brix!")

- If we strike their facilities, I would think that there is an almost unavoidable risk of scattering radioactive material all over Iran and that part of SW Asia. Quite aside from providing plenty of fodder for the anti-war crowd ("Look at all the suffering people dying from radiation sickness because the war-mongering Americans wouldn't allow the Iranians to have a peaceful nuclear program!"), thousands if not millions of innocent people in Iran and in neighboring countries would suffer the effects of "fallout" from our strikes.

- We face the same problem that Kennedy faced in 1962: even if we bomb the sites, the only way to guarantee that they are 100% destroyed is a ground assault to not only ensure that we get everything, but also depose the Iranian government to ensure that they don't try again in five more years.

This sucks. It really, really does.

Woo-hoo! A nuclear Iran! Way to go, EU! You really kicked ass and handled this one, didn't ya? Remind me NOT to mess with the EU in the future or they'll....they'll...they'll give me a whatfor that's what they'll do.

No wonder we have to lead.

I've said before that any strike on Iran large enough to give us even a 5 year reprieve from an Iranian bomb would damage the U.S. politically and make the nuts in Iran the leaders of the Islamic world. You know there's an Iranian equivilent of Baghdad Bob out there who'll be claiming Iran repulsed the great Satan and that's why Iran needs the bomb.

It's inevitable that sooner or later nations like Iran are going to get hold of this 60 year-old technology, and the U.S. needs to devise ways of dealing with that eventuality. Obviously we should continue to develop our anti-missile missile systems as well as the high flying laser anti-missile system already well into development. Figure out how to scan every cargo container entering the U.S., preferably while still at sea. Find the means to monitor every electronic form of communications as well as all ground movement in suspect nations. Develop far more extensive human intelligence networks. I expect there are lots of things we could do and technology we could develop to warn us of an impending attack and even intercept the device in transit, be it on a missile, plain or ship.

This is all described in revelations and is very interesting ..Persia ( iran ) leads an arab hoard along with russia towards Isreal..unfortunately for them it does not work..

One of the major problems with Iran, or by proxy any of the other loveably islamofascist states getting their hands on a nuke is that Mutually Assured Destruction really fails to be a deterrent to using them...those subscribers to an ideology that promotes blowing oneself up to kill other people equals martyrdom and a place in heaven.

Yeah, not good.