Neutralizing Iran’s Nuclear Material During a War Is ‘Nearly Mission Impossible’

America went to war in Iran, we’re told, because the idea of the country developing nuclear weapons was intolerable. Nukes are complicated and technical weapons that require scientists and experts to build, maintain, and manage. Highly enriched uranium (HEU) is core to the design and unless all of Iran’s HEU is accounted for the threat of it becoming a nuclear power will linger.So what would it take to get rid of Iran’s stockpile HEU?François Diaz-Maurin is on Angry Planet today to answer that question. Diaz-Maurin is editor for nuclear affairs at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where he recently published an article outlining what it would take for US troops to neutralize Iran’s highly enriched uranium.How a civil engineer becomes a nuclear journalist“You can’t bomb away nuclear material.”“Technically, it’s nearly Mission Impossible.”How much highly enriched uranium (HEU) was left after last year’s strikes?Moving HEU around IranWhat we can learn from satellite photos and the International Atomic Energy AgencyWhy 60%?Managing scuba tanks full of gaseous toxins in a war zoneWhy blowing up the cylinders won’t work“Let me throw something weird at you.”Downblending versus exportingWe’re living in the third nuclear ageDeterrence works and that’s, maybe, not great?Trump may send US troops to neutralize Iran’s highly enriched uranium. There are no good optionsNetanyahu says Iran no longer has uranium enrichment capacityIran willing to dilute uranium stockpile as fresh protests eruptSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/warcollege. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.