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New imagery of Iran's Arak heavy water reactor
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Israel strikes Iranian nuclear reactor
[Yahoo-Telegraph] Israel struck an Iranian reactor in the central city of Arak on Thursday in its latest efforts to destroy the regime’s nuclear programme.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it targeted Iran’s heavy water nuclear reactor, striking what it described as "a key component in plutonium production".

A black and white video, circulated online by the IDF, showed a missile crashing into the target, followed by a large explosion.

Both sides have been fighting for nearly a week since Israel launched attacks on Iranian nuclear sites and killed several top generals and nuclear scientists.

On Thursday, Israel said its warplanes also struck a facility at Natanz, a key Iranian nuclear site, which was being used to develop nuclear weapons, a military front man said.

The IDF said: "The site houses unique components and equipment used for the development of nuclear weapons, and hosts projects that enable the acceleration of the nuclear weapons programme."

Earlier on Thursday, the IDF announced it had struck a nuclear site in Bushehr, which sits on the Gulf coast and is understood to be Iran’s only operating power plant.

The announcement caused concern among neighbouring Gulf states because of the contamination risk to the surrounding air and water.

But Israel was forced to retract i,t admitting it had been "a mistake". When pushed, a front man said it could "neither confirm nor deny" whether the reactor was attacked.

Israel has said its goal for the war is to demolish Iran’s nuclear programme, which the West fears is close to building a bomb.

Some officials signalling that the attacks are also aimed at forcing the collapse of the Iranian regime, with possible US support in the near future.

The Arak nuclear reactor has been a key feature of Iran’s nuclear programme for decades, with Tehran insisting that it is only used for civilian purposes and not for the creation of nuclear bombs.

In 2016, Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate Jews Zionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
agreed to remove the core of the Arak reactor and fill it up with concrete under the now-defunct Iran nuclear deal, which eased sanctions on Tehran in exchange for curbing the nuclear programme. The first Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear pact in 2018.

In 2019, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s nuclear programme chief, said Tehran had replaced a calandria, a key component in the reactor, so that work on the programme could resume.

The IDF said: "The reactor is designed to produce high-yield plutonium, which would enable the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The attack was carried out against the component intended for producing plutonium, thus preventing its ability to be reused to produce nuclear weapons."

It added that it had also carried out overnight strikes, involving 40 aircraft and 100 munitions, against several Iranian military facilities.

IAEA: No fear of ‘radiological effects’ after IDF hits Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor
[IsraelTimes] UN nuclear watchdog reports ‘key buildings’ at the unfinished facility were damaged in attack, which Israel said ‘targeted the component intended for plutonium production’

The UN nuclear watchdog confirmed Thursday that IDF strikes had hit Iran’s partially built Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor and damaged the nearby plant that makes heavy water, a component used in nuclear react.

“IAEA has information the Khondab (former Arak) heavy water research reactor, under construction, was hit. It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a post on X.

In its first statement on the attack in central Iran, the IAEA said it had no information indicating the nearby plant that produces heavy water had been hit. The agency later issued a statement revising that assessment.

“While damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, it is now assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit,” the IAEA statement said.

The strike on the Arak heavy water reactor came a week into Israel’s campaign of airstrikes against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program and military leadership.

Heavy water reactors use heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, as a moderator, a material that slows down fast-moving neutrons released during the nuclear fission process that generates heat in the reactor.

The Arak facility that was struck overnight Thursday was originally designed in a way that would make it capable of easily producing plutonium, which could be used to produce nuclear arms.

Under a 2015 deal with major powers, the heavy water plant was redesigned to reduce the nuclear weaponization risk and its core was removed and filled with concrete. Iran had informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency the reactor would start operation in 2026.

The IDF, which issued a warning to residents of the area to evacuate ahead of the strike, said the attack on Arak “targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.”

Posted by: Fred 2025-06-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=766966