[Beeman is the long-time head of Middle East Studies at Brown and his specialty is Iran. His full text has some weaknesses in it. But it makes several interesting points you don't ever hear.]
http://www.juancole.com/2006/01/beeman-guest-editorial-us-to-blame-for.html
Beeman Guest Editorial: US to Blame for Iranian Nuclear Program
United States Instigated Iran's Nuclear Program 30 Years Ago
William O. Beeman Brown University
The White House staffers, who are trying to deny Iran the right to develop its own nuclear energy capacity have conveniently forgotten that the United States was the midwife to the Iranian nuclear program 30 years ago. Every aspect of Iran's current nuclear development was approved and encouraged by Washington in the 1970s. President Gerald Ford offered Iran a full nuclear cycle in 1976, and the only reactor currently about to become operative, the reactor in Bushire, was started before the Iranian revolution with U.S. approval.
Kenneth Timmerman, in Countdown to Crisis: The Coming Nuclear Showdown with Iran presents a misleading description of this plant, claiming again and again that the facility might be used to produce nuclear fuel.
As the late Tom Stauffer and I wrote in June, 2003, the Bushire (Bushehr) reactor--a "light water" reactor--does not produce weapons grade Plutonium. It produces Pu 240, Pu241 and Pu242. Although these isotopes could theoretically be weaponized, the process is extremely long and complicated, and also untried. To date no nuclear weapon has ever been produced with plutonium produced with the kind of reactor at Bushire. Moreover, the plant would have to be completely shut down to extract the fuel rods, making the process immediately open to detection and inspection. (The plant IS shut down to change the fuel rods, but only every 30-40 months to provide longer and better energy generation.)
By contrast, the Dimona reactor in Israel--a "heavy water" reactor--is an example of a reactor that is ideal for producing weapons fuel. It produces Pu239 and the fuel rods can be extracted "on the fly." without any need to shut down the plant or alter its operation. The fuel rods are exchanged every few weeks.
The full original article with much more detailed analysis and reader commentary can be found at this URL:
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=1b68abecee07b0cb8cf9ed0bc9de5954
It is paired with a companion piece explaining why nuclear power makes perfect sense for the Iranian economic situation. This article can be found here:
http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=7188562b68f4f8f71e7b57ee599db3f5
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Full at: http://www.juancole.com/2006/01/beeman-guest-editorial-us-to-blame-for.html
Michael