Saturday 26 July 2014

The Negev Nuclear Research Center: A Nuclear Installation Located in the Desert (Israel)



The Negev Nuclear Research Center is an Israeli nuclear installation located in the Negev desert, about thirteen kilometers southeast of the city of Dimona, Israel.

Its construction commenced in 1958 with French assistance, according to the Protocol of Sèvres agreements.

Information about the facility remains highly classified. But in 1986, Mordechai Vanunu, a former technician at Dimona, fled to the United Kingdom and revealed to the media some evidence of Israel's nuclear program and explained the purpose of each building, also revealing a top-secret underground facility directly below the installation.

In January 2012, media reports indicated that the Israel Atomic Energy Commission had decided to, at least temporarily, shut down the research center's reactor. The site's vulnerability to attack from Iran was cited as the main reason for the decision. In October and November 2012, it was reported that Hamas had fired rockets at Dimona (rather Negev Nuclear Research Center), but the facility was not harmed or damaged in any of the attempted strikes.

Of course the airspace over it is closed to all aircraft. They also implement the necessary measures to prevent unauthorized entry, so the area around it is heavily guarded and fenced off.

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