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Thread: The assault on Pelindaba
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21-05-2021, 11:12 #11
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21-05-2021, 11:23 #12
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Re: The assault on Pelindaba
100 barrels of enriched uranium residue are still missing. From Wiki:
1994 theft of residue barrels[edit]
In August 1994, barrels containing "enriched uranium residue" were stolen from Pelindaba. The theft was detected on 16 August. The contents of 30 barrels were discovered dumped near Pelindaba and as of 4 September, 100 barrels remained missing.[24]
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21-05-2021, 13:07 #13
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Whats not said is that those contained cloths, gloves, cleaning materials etc. Literally waste. But because it was used in HEU processes and handling, it's classified as Nuclear materials. The book I references earlier discusses all this.
Do not be under the impression that any nuclear material can be easily be sold (legitemately or not) by a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. SA's nuclear capabilities have effectively been neutered when we signed that. SA remains the only nation to have developed nuclear weapons and to have subsequently fully decommissioned them and then signed the NPT. The effect is that although we had very strong nuclear capability (not just militarily) we are NOT deemed a "Nuclear Nation" (that was arbitrarily assigned to nations that had nuclear capability at an earlier point in time) and not being a nuclear nation prohibits you from trading in nuclear technology and materials, outside of a very narrow scope. This is VERY tighly controlled and monitored by international agencies.
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21-05-2021, 13:29 #14
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21-05-2021, 13:39 #15
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21-05-2021, 16:01 #16
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Re: The assault on Pelindaba
When I did my apprenticeship at Western Deep Levels gold mine the uranium plant was in full production supplying the Pelindaba plant. Uranium is a byproduct of gold mining and was not in short supply. The fact that the mines belonged to Anglo American probably meant that a lot of the uranium left our shores. Also we had close ties to Israel and they were also involved in our nuclear program back then.
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