Israel’s nuclear arsenal may have never been declared by the country but it’s a geopolitical fact bestowing military supremacy in the region, well-known by its allies and enemies alike.
A long-secretive Israeli nuclear facility that gave birth to its atomic weapons program is undergoing what appears to be its biggest construction project in decades. That’s according to satellite photos analyzed by the AP, reports Jon Gambrell.
A dig the size of a football field and likely several stories deep now sits just meters from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona. What the construction is for, however, remains unclear. The Israeli government did not respond to requests for comment from the AP.
With French assistance, Israel began secretly building the nuclear site in the late 1950s in empty desert near Dimona, 55 miles south of Jerusalem. It hid the military purpose of the site for years from America, now Israel’s chief ally, even referring to it as a textile factory.
With plutonium from Dimona, Israel is widely believed to have become one of only nine nuclear-armed countries in the world.
Given the secrecy surrounding its program, it remains unclear how many weapons it possesses. Analysts estimate Israel has material for at least 80 bombs.