01-05-2010, 09:42 AM
The links are working now Magda.
Bob Ringler is correct in claiming JFK wanted six monthly inspections. The reason was that the reactor had a six month fuel cycle. Despite Kennedy's pressure, the Israelis never allowed more than one inspection per year, usually citing domestic political problems as a reason for delaying AEC inspections, much to Kennedy's ire. After Kennedy died, there was much less pressure on the Israelis and they tightly controlled the ground rules, whereby the inspections degenerated into farce.
From Cohen's 'Israel and the Bomb', here is the chronology of the eight inspections by the Americans:
20 May 1961
26 September 1962
18 January 1964
30 January 1965
2 April 1966
22 April 1967
Late June 1968
12 July 1969
The inspections (or 'visits' as the Israelis insisted they be called) were limited to one day, with a single team of no more than three AEC scientists. They insisted they be carried out on a Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, when no workers would be present so none could be asked questions by the AEC inspectors.
Further, the AEC team was closely escorted by their Israeli hosts, they were not permitted to bring radioactive measuring instruments or collect any samples for later analysis. The team were shown records of irradiation for each fuel rod, which were in Hebrew. None of the AEC team could read or speak Hebrew. Since the first visit in 1961, successive teams repeatedly and pointedly complained that the one day format was inadequate even for a modest inspection (one inspection lasted only 45 minutes), and that more backup data were required. They were told that these were the Israeli ground rules and they could not be altered without jeopardising the entire arrangement. (Cohen pp. 188-189)
By these means, the Israelis were able to conceal the fact they had built a plutonium reprocessing plant underneath the main reactor.
No IAEA inspectors have ever visited Dimona. Israel has never signed the NPT or acknowledged their nuclear capability.
Bob Ringler is correct in claiming JFK wanted six monthly inspections. The reason was that the reactor had a six month fuel cycle. Despite Kennedy's pressure, the Israelis never allowed more than one inspection per year, usually citing domestic political problems as a reason for delaying AEC inspections, much to Kennedy's ire. After Kennedy died, there was much less pressure on the Israelis and they tightly controlled the ground rules, whereby the inspections degenerated into farce.
From Cohen's 'Israel and the Bomb', here is the chronology of the eight inspections by the Americans:
20 May 1961
26 September 1962
18 January 1964
30 January 1965
2 April 1966
22 April 1967
Late June 1968
12 July 1969
The inspections (or 'visits' as the Israelis insisted they be called) were limited to one day, with a single team of no more than three AEC scientists. They insisted they be carried out on a Saturday, the Jewish sabbath, when no workers would be present so none could be asked questions by the AEC inspectors.
Further, the AEC team was closely escorted by their Israeli hosts, they were not permitted to bring radioactive measuring instruments or collect any samples for later analysis. The team were shown records of irradiation for each fuel rod, which were in Hebrew. None of the AEC team could read or speak Hebrew. Since the first visit in 1961, successive teams repeatedly and pointedly complained that the one day format was inadequate even for a modest inspection (one inspection lasted only 45 minutes), and that more backup data were required. They were told that these were the Israeli ground rules and they could not be altered without jeopardising the entire arrangement. (Cohen pp. 188-189)
By these means, the Israelis were able to conceal the fact they had built a plutonium reprocessing plant underneath the main reactor.
No IAEA inspectors have ever visited Dimona. Israel has never signed the NPT or acknowledged their nuclear capability.