Avatar photoIran's Underground UF4 Plant

Last week, Dafna Linzer had a long, detailed story (and online chat) on intelligence found by German intelligence on a laptop computer stolen by an Iranian citizen in 2004. I am writing a four-part series looking at the key pieces of information: a schematic of a shaft that might be for a nuclear test, plans …

Avatar photoChinese Underground Facilities

Click here for a GoogleEarth placemark. Tom Cochran, Matt McKinzie, Stan Norris, Laura Harrison and Hans Kristensen have a cool article, China’s Nuclear Forces: The World’s First Look at China’s Underground Facilities for Nuclear Warheads, in Imaging Notes. The images, particularly the SSBN sitting at the dock near a massive underground facility (taken by Digital …

Avatar photoFeel the Rush

And who says the National Laboratories are having trouble maintaining their relevance in the post-Cold War environment? Sandia National Laboratories news release February 15, 2006 Sandia researchers develop low-density, environmentally friendly foam that may also be the answer to surf industry crisis Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories have developed a low-density, energy-absorbing foam that could …

Avatar photoIranian Test Shaft Redux

I finally dug up the DTRA brochure, Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Indicators (March 2004), describing the signatures that distinguish a nuclear test site from a conventional mining operation: Some features common to legitimate mining and excavation activities can suggest nuclear explosive testing. Sites conducting nuclear testing usually require facilities and equipment not normally associated with …