… and a pinch of Kosher salt.
Arms Control Wonk.com has the full text of the latest “Report by the IAEA Director General on the Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran (GOV/2005/87).
Press coverage focuses on the revelation that the AQ Khan network provided Iran with a number of documents in 1987, including one “related to the … casting and machining of enriched, natural and depleted uranium metal into hemispherical forms.”
That would be the shape for a bomb.
The broad outlines of the 1987 offer were reported by Dafna Linzer in February 2005, after Iran turned over “a handwritten one-page document” reflecting the offer in January 2005. DDG Goldschmidt described the document in March 2005, as did DG ElBaradei in September 2005 (GOV/2005/67).
Since then, Iran has provided additional documents on the offer, including one related to casting uranium into hemispherical forms:
The documents included: detailed drawings of the P-1 centrifuge components and assemblies; technical specifications supporting component manufacture and centrifuge assembly; and technical documents relating to centrifuge operational performance. In addition, they included cascade schematic drawings for various sizes of research and development (R&D) cascades, together with the equipment needed for cascade operation (e.g. cooling water circuit needs and special valve consoles). The documents also included a drawing showing a cascade layout for 6 cascades of 168 machines each and a small plant of 2000 centrifuges arranged in the same hall. Also among the documents was one related to the procedural requirements for the reduction of UF6 to metal in small quantities, and on the casting and machining of enriched, natural and depleted uranium metal into hemispherical forms, with respect to which Iran stated that it had been provided on the initiative of the procurement network, and not at the request of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
The usual suspects at the wire services provide the most detailed coverage. Check out Mark Heinrich and Francois Murphy (writing for Reuters), George Jahn (AP) and AFP (Adler, I assume).
Try to ignore the irrelevant debate about whether or not one should describe the information as a “cookbook.” This is why I can’t be a journalist—I would have asked the diplomat to be more specific about the cookbook metaphor.
So are we talking an Alton Brown cookbook or more like Rachael Ray? AQ Khan’s Gear? Thirty Minute Mass Destruction?
I’m convinced the diplomats who spoke of the cookbook are the same ones who persuaded the NYT to recycle the nuclear warhead rubbish. Best way to spin the DG’s report is to have warned people BEFOREHAND that the Iranians are designing a warhead with room for a spherical payload…
“with respect to which Iran stated it had been provided on the initiative of the procurement network, and not at the request of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).”
So, AQ Khan’s network begins to sound even more like Crazy Crazy’s Carpet Emporium…
“Buy now, and we’ll throw in instructions on hemispherical casting, at no additional cost! No need to even ask us for it! Everything must go!”