In an article under the above title published today, Sunday, 27 August 2006, Stewart Stogel argues that Iran's nuclear intentions are military, not civil - on the basis that Iran has only two nuclear power plants close to operation, both of them Russian-built reactors in Bushehr on the Persian Gulf coast. The two are light, not heavy, water reactors, and they produce far less bomb-grade nuclear waste. Now Iran is opening a heavy water plant, so...
However, the above argument is highly simplistic.
As anyone who is acquainted with India's experience of the nuclear sector will affirm, these are at best relative matters of quantity.
The science, technology and facilities involved in "peaceful, civilian" nuclear programmes and "military" nuclear programmes are exactly the same.
The peacefulness or maliciousness lies in the intent. That is not judged best by declarations (India too was making similar declarations!) but by actions. If any country opens its facilities to international inspection, its intentions can be confirmed.
Without international inspection, the intentions can only be guessed to be at least partly malicious.
Stewart Stogel's story is at:
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/8/26/160930.shtml?s=lh
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Sunday, August 27, 2006
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The West might also fear Iran, because it has reached the capacity to produce nuclear weapons. Even though the Iranian president affirms that this program is solely meant for pacific purposes, let it be said that Iran doesn't recognize Israel as a country. Furthermore, by being able to produce nuclear weapons, Iran, one of the countries that sponsor the Hezbollah, might also provide the Hezbollah with this kind of weapons.
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