P-2 Class Bomb Quality Centrifuges in Iran? Not Really.

(San Francisco) The Associated Press (AP), a known Main Stream Media
(MSM) collaborator with the American information management
SuperAgency, CIA, recently released an International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) story claiming Iran has set up and is running a few
bastardized versions of Pakistan's P-2 Centrifuge.

P-1 centrifuges are lightweight with centrifuges made of aluminum.
P-1s cannot enrich uranium gas to bomb quality. They are used to make
3% to 6% U235 atomic reactor fuel rod pellets.

P-2 centrifuges are made of high nickel content specially coated steel
and maintain speeds of 50,000 RPM. P-2 Centrifuges can make the very
high percentage (90%) content U235 required for thermonuclear weapons.

The Pakistani version of the P-2 Centrifuge is capable of spinning up
nuclear bomb quality radioactive material. The P-1 is not. The AP
story makes it seem like the P-1 is bomb grade capable.

The Iranians are operating 3000 P-1 based Centrifuges and three P-2
Centrifuges. It would take Iran 400 years to make one nuclear weapon
with three P-2 Centrifuges.

For years American and European "news" stories have purposefully
omitted the fact that the P-1 Centrifuges are not capable of
"enriching" the U235 percentage in uranium enough to fashion a nuclear
weapon.

This was the worst kind of propaganda. The "news" articles from
Washington and European capitals were fabrications. Hundreds of
millions of people were purposefully frightened by these misleading
stories.

The Iranian P-2 based Centrifuges are still a big Maybe. The Iranian
P-2 machine knockoffs were modified by using Carbon Fiber in place of
high grade, high nickel content specialty steel. The capability of
carbon fiber to work in this demanding application for enriching Bomb
quality, high grade uranium isotope "235" is unknown.

The IAEA said the Iranians are thought to have a "few" machines. Most
people would think of that as two or three centrifuges. The New York
Times has already increased the number of P-2 Centrifuges to ten. This
is to scare Americans.

The Iranians would require 1200 operating machines to make enough
highly enriched uranium in one year to make an H-Bomb. They may have
three centrifuges in February, 2008 and they do not work yet. It may
take years to get 1200 machines "up and running" properly.

The souped up P-2 look alike machines spin at about 50,000 RPM. The
reliability of the carbon fiber centrifuges at that speed is unknown.

The answer to the question oft asked by the NeoCon War Mongers in
Washington "Does Iran have The Bomb yet?" It is still clearly "No."

[End]

Bob Nichols is an award winning newspaper correspondent reporting on
thing like war, politics and the US Nuclear Weapons Labs. Mr. Nichols
encourages your comments at duweapons [at] gmail.com


1. Iran Starts Up Advanced Centrifuges, George Jahn, Feb 7, 2008,
Associated Press, Vienna, Austria. http://tinyurl.com/32rxrx