Nuclear BS from the NY Times

Report Says Iran Has Data to Make a Nuclear Bomb by William Broad and David Singer of the NY Times.

Yet another scary headline from the NY Times about some country the US has declared to be evil being close to having a nuclear weapon.

Well, it would be scary if nuclear weapons were made from exploding 'data'.

As someone with a nuclear engineering degree, I have no idea about what they mean about having enough 'data' to design a bomb.

Nuclear weapons are really rather simple devices, at least in concept. You take a critical mass worth of uranium or plutonium. You keep it in several pieces that are smaller than a critical mass, since you don't want it going off in your hands like that fourth of july firecracker did back when you were a kid. Then, when you want it to explode, you put the pieces together (quickly) to allow it to form a critical mass.

That's it. Congratulations, you too now have enough data to design and build a nuclear weapon. Welcome to the club! We have t-shirts and hats for the new club members.

There are always these stories about how some nation that we hate is close to have a nuclear weapon. With Iraq, the line of bs was along the lines of 'IF Iraq had fissionable material, they would have a bomb in 6 months.' That of course is a really big if. Its like saying 'if I had a million dollars, I'd be a millionaire in six months.' Of course I would. Now the NY Times is writing strange, misleading and scary headlines about Iran having the 'data' to build a bomb.

The key is the fissionable material. The IAEA has continually inspected Iran's facilities and found that they are not, and that there is no evidence that they ever have, produced bomb-grade uranium from their enrichment facilities. The IAEA knows about the new facility in Qom because the Iranians reported it to the IAEA exactly as required under their agreements. Inspections are being arranged, before it becomes operational, just as required by the treaty.

But the key thing to remember is this. Without that bomb-grade uranium, they ain't building a nuclear bomb. No matter how much 'data' they have. Good luck getting 'data' to explode.

The question you should be asking is this. Why is the NY Times, along with SOS Hillary and President Obama, trying to mislead and confuse you?

BTW, remember the names 'William Broad' and 'David Sanger'. They appear to be the new Judy Miller in printing outrageous propaganda at the NY Times.