Israel Now 6th Largest Nuke Power

by Amir Oren

08 October 1999

A secret document from the American Department of Energy places Israel sixth in the atomic big-league, after Russia and the United States. Israel has 300 to 500 kilograms of weapon-grade plutonium, which means it can produce at least 250 nuclear weapons.

For comparison, Russia has 140 tons of the material, the U.S. has 85 tons, Britain has 7.6 tons, France 6 to 7 tons and China 1.7 to 2.8 tons. Israel is ahead of India (150-250 kg) and of North Korea (23-35 kg). A nuclear bomb or warhead requires 2-4 kilograms of weapon-grade plutonium.The information was disclosed in the September-October issue of the bi-monthly Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The estimate of Israeli nuclear capability coincides with the estimates foreign experts had published based on the information revealed by convicted spy Mordechai Vanunu.

Since September 1993 the Clinton administration has been pushing for a world treaty against the production of fissile materials, plutonium and uranium, for military purposes and nuclear explosions. Israel refuses to sign the treaty, explaining that such a step must be part of a general nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. The publication of an official estimate of Israel's plutonium stockpile may help U.S. efforts to have Israel stop the manufacturing of fissile materials.

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