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Israel's Nuclear Weapons Program
Last changed 10 December 1997
Israel is believed to possess the largest and most sophisticated arsenal outside of
the five declared nuclear powers. Israel has never admitted possessing nuclear
weapons, but abundant information is available showing that the capability exists.
A short essay on the history of Israel's nuclear weapons program
April 1997 revelations about Israeli-South African nuclear collaboration
The center of Israel's weapons program is the Negev Nuclear Research Center near
the desert town of Dimona (the center is usually identified simply as "Dimona"). A
nuclear reactor and plutonium production facility was built by France at this facility
in
the late 1950s and early 60s. All of the production and fabrication of special nuclear
materials (plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and enriched and unenriched uranium)
occurs at Dimona although the design and assembly of nuclear weapons occurs
elsewhere.
October 1997 news stories about workers health and safety at Dimona
Click on images for close-ups
This is an image of the Dimona facility taken by a US Corona spy satellite in 1971
(Mission 1115-2, 29 September 1971, Frame: 52, 53). It is physically impossible to
take a similar image within the atmosphere as Israel jealously protects the airspace
above Dimona. In the 1960s an Israeli Airforce Mirage was shot down when it
accidentally ventured too close to Dimona.
A closeup of the same Corona frames.
Side-by-side comparison of a Corona image and the much lower resolution SPOT
commercial imaging satellite. The SPOT image lables the Dimona nuclear reactor
dome and Machon 2 which houses the plutonium separation plant.
Satellite images courtesy John Pike at the Federation of American Scientists, see the
FAS Intelligence Resource Program page. The SPOT Image was acquired and
exploited by Peter Zimmerman.
The Dimona Reactor Dome (courtesy Mordechai Vanunu) (34 K)
Mordechai Vanunu (17 K)
The most specific and detailed information to be made public about its nuclear
program came from a former mid-level nuclear technician named Mordechai
Vanunu. Vanunu had worked at the Machon 2 facility, where plutonium is produced
and bomb components fabricated, for 9 years before his increasing involvement in
left wing pro-Palestinian politics led to his dismissal in 1986. Due to lax internal
security, prior to his departure he managed to take about 60 photographs covering
nearly every part of Machon 2.
Mordechai Vanunu (35 K)
After travelling around the world for several months in Bohemian style, he converted
to Christianity in Australia. The religious group he associated with has an activist
anti-
nuclear bent and he soon decided to make public his knowledge of Israel's nuclear
weapons capability. He made contact with the London Sunday Times which flew him
to London and began preparing an exclusive news story. Unfortunately for Vanunu,
the Israeli government had found out about his activities and the Mossad arranged to
kidnap him and bring him back to Israel for trial.
Mordechai Vanunu revealing details of his capture (39 K)
For an even bigger image (57 K) click here.
He was successfully lured into a trap by a female Israeli agent named Cheryl Bentov
operating under the name of "Cindy". His sudden disappearance before the
publication of the Sunday Times story was mysterious at the time. The story was
finally published several days later on 5 October 1986. A few motnhs later Vanunu's
status as a prisoner of the Israeli government was confirmed when it was revealed
that he would stand trial. Despite being essentially incommunicado, Vanunu
managed to reveal details of his capture in dramatic fashion when he wrote the
information on the palm of his hand, and held it up for news photographers as he
was being whisked away from the courthouse.
As described by Vanunu, the Dimona complex has nine buildings ("Machons",
Hebrew for "facility") including to the reactor building. The plant employs 2700
people.
Control room of the Machon 2 plutonium separation plant (courtesy Mordechai
Vanunu) (31 K)
Machon 1 is the reactor building with its 60 foot silver dome.
Machon 2 is where Vanunu worked, along 150 other people. From outside, Machon
2 is a nondescript two story windowless building 80 feet wide and 200 feet long. The
above-ground structure houses an air filtration plant, some offices, storage space,
and a worker's canteen. Also in the structure is the entrance to limited access
elevators that transport people to the six underground levels, extending eightly feet
below the surface. This hidden area houses an automated Purex plutonium
separation plant, plutonium fabrication and reclamation shops, and fabrication shops
for bomb components made out of lithium deuteride and beryllium. The separation
plant is housed in a production hall (called "The Tunnel" that occupies the first four
levels. Level 5 is the fabrication area for plutonium, lithium deuteride, and
beryllium.
The Tunnel normally operates one 34 week long "production campaign" each year,
being closed for servicing and refurbishment the rest of the year.
Machon 3 is a chemical plant that produces lithium-6 deuteride and also processes
natural uranium and fabricates reactor fuel rods.
Machon 4 is a waste treatment plant for the radioactive effluent from the plutonium
extraction process in Machon 2 . This plant presumably converts the waste products
for convenient disposal, and may also separate the uranium for reuse.
Machon 5 coats the uranium fuel rodes with aluminum.
Machon 6 is the physical plant for Dimona, providing power and other services.
Machon 8 (there is no Machon 7) contains a laboratory for testing and process
development. This building houses Unit 840, which operates gas centrifuges for
enriching uranium.
Machon 9 houses a laser isotope enrichment plant, also for enriching uranium.
Machon 10 produces depleted uranium metal for anti-armor ammunition use.
Bomb components made of plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and beryllium are
fabricated in level 5 of Machon 2. They are transported by convoys of unmarked cars
to the warhead assembly facility, operated by Rafael north of Haifa.
The principal uncertainty in evaluating Israel's weapon production capability is the
actual power level of the Dimona reactor. It has long been believed that Israel has
upgraded the reactor repeatedly to increase its plutonium production. Vanunu
claimed that Israel possessed 100-200 nuclear weapons (implying some 400-800 kg
of plutonium) and can produce 40 kg of plutonium a year. This production figure
indicates an average operating power of 150 MW thermal. Analysts generally
discount figures this high, and the consensus is that it was initially operated at 40
MW and was upgraded to 70 MW sometime before 1977. A 1996 study by the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) produced a somewhat
lower range of estimates, concluding that Israel has produced 330- 580 kg of
plutonium through 1995, enough for a stockpile of 80-150 efficient weapons (the
extreme estimate range was 190 to 880 kg).
Vanunu provided information indicating that the uranium fuel is subjected to burnups
of 400 MW-days/tonne, a figure similar to that used by the US early in its weapons
production program. This results in a high grade plutonium with a Pu-240 content of
2%. According to Vanunu 140 fuel rods are irradiated for periods of about three
months before discharge for plutonium extraction. At 70 MW the Dimona reactor
would consume some 48 tonnes of fuel a year and produce about 18 kg of
plutonium.
Vanunu also claimed that Israel possessed fusion boosted weapons, and has
developed hydrogen bomb technology. He provided information about both lithium-6
and tritium production. He stated that initially tritium was produced by a facility in
Machon 2 called Unit 92 by separating it from the heavy water moderator where it is
produced in small amounts as a by-product. In 1984 production was expanded when
a new facility called Unit 93 was opened to extract tritium from enriched lithium that
had been irradiated in the reactor. The large scale production of tritium by Israel has
been confirmed by South Africa, which received a shipments of tritium totalling 30 g
during 1977-79. This clearly indicates tritium production on a scale sufficient for a
weapon boosting program. It is difficult to find any other rationale for such a large
tritium production capability except some sort of thermonuclear weapon application.
Mock-up of an Israeli Bomb (courtesy Mordechai Vanunu) (46 K)
It is quite difficult to develop gas fusion boosting technology like that used in US
weapons and weapons tests are probably essential. Although radiation implosion
weapons could be developed without testing, they would tend to be large and heavy
and would perhaps be incompatible with Israel's available delivery systems. It is quite
possible then that a Sloika/Alarm Clock type system has been developed using
lithium-6 deuteride fuel surrounding the plutonium core (in fact a weapon mock-up
photographed by Vanunu appears to be this type of weapon). Tritium could be used
to spike the fusion fuel and boost the yield, just as the Soviets did with the 400 Kt
"Joe-4".
Bomb components made of plutonium, lithium-6 deuteride, and beryllium are
fabricated in level 5 of Machon 2. They are transported by convoys of unmarked cars
to the warhead assembly facility, operated by Rafael north of Haifa.
Hersh reports (without any stated source) that Israel has developed an extensive
array of tactical nuclear weapons: efficient compact boosted fission bombs, neutron
bombs (allegedly numbering in the hundreds by the mid-eighties), nuclear artillery
shells, and nuclear mines. With an arsenal that is quite possibly in excess of 100
weapons it is likely that some of the nuclear materials would be applied tactical
weapons. Boosted bombs are doubtful, as are neutron bombs, due to problems with
development in the absence of a significant testing program. Neutron bombs also
require very large amounts of tritium (20- 30 g per weapon) which would impact the
production of plutonium quite seriously (each gram of tritium displaces 80 grams of
plutonium production). Artillery shells are also doubtful due to their wastefulness in
plutonium. Tactical weapons are probably aircraft or missile delivered, or are pre-
emplaced mines.
Burrows and Windrem claim (without indicating a source) that Israel has produced
300 warheads, including those that have since been dismantled. They place the
current arsenal at about 200 weapons.
Several reports have surfaced claiming that Israel has some uranium enrichment
capability at Dimona. Vanunu asserted that gas centrifuges were operating in
Machon 8, and that a laser enrichment plant was being operated in Machon 9 (Israel
holds a 1973 patent on laser isotopic enrichment). According to Vanunu the
production-scale plant has been operating since 1979-80. The scale of a centrifuge
operation would necessarily be limited due to space constraints, and might be
focused toward enriching depleted reactor fuel to more efficiently use Israel's
uranium supply. A laser enrichment system, if developed to operational status, could
be quite compact however and might be producing weapon grade material in
substantial quantities. If highly enriched uranium is being produced in substantial
quantities, then Israel's nuclear arsenal could be much larger than estimated solely
from plutonium production.
Reports that Zalman Shapiro, the American owner of the nuclear fuel processing
company NUMEC, supplied enriched uranium to Israel in the 1960s seems to have
been authoritatively refuted by Hersh.
Israel produces uranium domestically as a by-product of phosphate mining near the
Dead Sea but this amounts to only 10 tons a year, and is grossly insufficient for its
needs. Israel has addressed this shortfall by reprocessing the low burnup spent fuel
to recover uranium (which most nations do not do). It is also known to have
purchased at least 200 tons of natural uranium on the world market under an alias. A
major source though was some 600 tons of uranium provided by South Africa in a
quid pro quo for Israel's assistance on its weapons program. Combined with uranium
recycling, and the possible use of enrichment to stretch the uranium supply, these
quantities may be sufficient to account for Dimona's fuel supply to the present date
(1997).
Israel can undoubtedly deploy nuclear weapons using its capable air force. The
aircraft and crews dedicated to nuclear weapons delivery are located at the Tel Nof
airbase. Originally the F-4 Phantom II acquired in 1969 was probably the designated
carrier, today it would be the F-16. The F-16 has an unrefueled radius of action of
1250 km, extending out to western Iran, the shores of the Black Sea, Riyadh, or the
Libyan border. With refueling it can travel much farther of course, and an unrefueled
one-way mission could take it as far as Moscow.
Israel also possesses medium-range ballistic missiles: the Jericho-1 (Ya-1 "Luz")
with a 500 kg payload, and a range of 480-650 km (operational since 1973); and the
Jericho 2 (either Ya-2 or Ya-3) with a 1000 kg payload and a range of over 1500 km
(operational since 1990). Under development is the Jericho-2B with a range of 2,500
km. These missiles were almost certainly developed specifically as nuclear delivery
systems (although chemical warheads cannot be ruled out). About 50 Jericho-1s and
50 Jericho-2s are believed to have been deployed. Israel also has a 100 or more US
supplied Lance tactical missiles, with a range of 115 km (72 miles). Although these
were supplied with conventional warheads, they could have been outfitted with
nuclear or chemical ones.
Jericho 1
This is believed to be named Luz and designated YA-1 by Israel. It is based on the
French missile MD-600 built by Dassault and was developed during the 1960s.
Specifications
Length: 10 m
Width 1.0 m
Launch weight 4500 kg
Propulsion: Two stage solid propellant
Range: 500 km
Payload: 500 kg
Jericho 2
Jericho-2 development is indigenous, and started soon after the Jericho-1 was
deployed. Test launches began in 1986 and the first two had ranges of 465 km
(1986) and 820 km (1987). The Jericho-2 shares the first two stages of the civilian
Shavit (Comet) space launch vehicle, which has launched Israel's four satellites, the
Offeq-1, 2, and 3 reconnaissance satellites, and the Amos communications satellite.
Shavit space launch vehicle, Offeq-2 launch on 3 April 1990 (13 K)
Specifications
Length: 12 m
Width 1.2 m
Launch weight 6500 kg
Propulsion: Two stage solid propellant
Range: 1500 km
Payload: 1000 kg
The Jericho 1 and 2 are deployed near Kfar Zachariah and Sderot Micha in the
Judean foothills, about 23 km east of Jerusalem (and about 40 km southeast of Tel
Aviv). Located a few kilometers to the northwest is Tel Nof air base. Images of the
missile complex made by commercial satellites have been published in recent years,
and September 1997 Jane's Intelligence Review published a 3-D analysis of high
resolution pictures taken by the Indian IRS-C satellite.
The complex is compact - smaller than 6 km x 4 km. The missiles are mobile, being
deployed on transporter-erector-launchers (TELs), and are based in bunkers
tunneled into the side of the limestone hills. There are no signs of missile silos.
TELs
require firm, accurately leveled ground in order to launch, and maximum missile
accuracy requires pre- surveyed launch points. Consequently there are a number of
prepared launch pads (paved culs-de-sac) connected to these bunkers by paved
roads. Images of an actual Jericho 2 TEL indicate that it is about 16 m long, 4 m
wide, and 3 m high. It is accompanied by three support vehicles (probably a power
supply vehicle, a firing control vehicle, and a communications vehicle). The
Zachariah missile base was enlarged between 1989 and 1993 during the Jericho-2
deployment. A few kilometers north of Tel Nof is the Be'er Yaakov factory where the
Jericho missiles and the Shavit are believed to have been manufactured.
>From its deployment location in central Israel the Jericho-1 missile can reach such
targets as Damascus, Aleppo, and Cairo. The Jericho-2 can reach any part of Syria
or Iraq, and as far as Teheran, and Benghazi, Libya. The Jericho-2B will be able to
reach any part of Libya or Iran, and as far as southern Russia. The short range of the
Lance limits it mainly to battlefield use, although the Syrian capital of Damascus is
in
range from much of northern Israel. According to Jane's World Air Forces, Israel has
three Jericho-equipped missile squadrons.
Also located at the site are a group of 21 bunkers thought to contain nuclear gravity
bombs. Five of the larger ones are about 15 m wide and 20 m long, and rise 6 m
above ground.
Israel has taken active steps to prevent nations that are officially at war with it
from
acquiring nuclear capabilities. The bombing of the Osiraq reactor in Iraq in 1981 is
the most famous case, but an earlier sabotage of the reactor core in France prior to
shipment is probably attributable to Mossad.
Israel's official policy is that it will not be the first nation to introduce nuclear
weapons
into the Middle East. In contrast to the coy hinting of some undeclared weapon's
states, Israel thus actively denies possessing nuclear weapons. Its obvious capability
in this regard has thus established de facto deterrence, while minimizing (but not
eliminating) domestic and international controversy.
End<{{{
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