Osiraq was a 40 MW light water nuclear materials testing reactor (MTR) in Iraq. It was constructed by the Iraqi government at the Al Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre, 18 km south-east of Baghdad in 1977. It was destroyed by Israel in 1981 in a preemptive strike for fear of the reactor being used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. The megawatt (symbol: MW) is a unit for measuring power corresponding to one million (106) watts. ... In speaking of nuclear reactors, light water is ordinary water. ... Nuclear reactor - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... A street map of Baghdad Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad *See Bagdad, Tasmania for the Australian town of a similar name. ... 1977 was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1977 calendar). ... A preemptive attack (or preemptive war) is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat an imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (usually unavoidable) war. ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block ?, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass (244) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ...

Design and construction

The MTR was a French design of a type named Osiris, named after the Egyptian God of the dead. The French named the reactor Osiraq, from "Osiris" + "Iraq" (French Osirak), and the Iraqis named it Tammuz 1, for the Arabic month the Ba'ath Party took control of the government in 1968. OSIRIS (Optical System for Imaging and low Resolution Integrated Spectroscopy) is the Spanish Day One instrument for the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC). ... Tammuz or Tamuz (Arabic تمّوز Tammūz; Hebrew תַּמּוּז, Standard Hebrew Tammuz, Tiberian Hebrew Tammûz; Akkadian Duʾzu, Dūzu; See also Tammuz (month). ... Baath Party flag The Baath Parties (also spelled Baath or Bath; Arabic: اﻟﺒﻌﺚ) comprise political parties representing the political face of the Baath movement. ...

In addition to the reactor, construction, and technical assistance, the French sold around 12.5 kg of 93% enriched uranium-235 fuel (HEU) to the Iraqi government. Uranium-235 is an isotope of uranium that differs from the elements other common isotope, uranium-238, by its ability to cause a rapidly expanding fission chain reaction. ...

Concerns about possible military use

Many believed the reactor was part of the Iraqi nuclear weapons program. The Iraqi government had tried and failed in 1974 to buy a French gas-graphite plutonium producing reactor and a reprocessing plant, and they had also failed in an attempt to buy an Italian Cirene reactor. France agreed to sell them the MTR and its associated laboratory equipment. The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the epicenter. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... General Name, Symbol, Number plutonium, Pu, 94 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block ?, 7, f Appearance silvery white Atomic mass (244) g/mol Electron configuration [Rn] 5f6 7s2 Electrons per shell 2, 8, 18, 32, 24, 8, 2 Physical properties Phase solid Density (near r. ...

The Israeli government was deeply concerned at this purchase. Despite Iraqi claims that the plant was for peaceful use, it was an unusual choice — an MTR design is useful for countries with established nuclear reactor construction programs, but less so otherwise. The reactor used HEU fuel as standard. The substantial Iraqi purchases of uranium ore could be treated at the plant to produce plutonium, and the Iraq government had also purchased a fuel fabrication plant and a recovery 'hot cell'. Further, Iraq being one of the world's leading oil and natural gas suppliers made the notion of them needing a peaceful nuclear energy plant even more unlikely. General Name, Symbol, Number uranium, U, 92 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block ?, 7, f Appearance silvery gray metallic Atomic mass 238. ...

However, the plant was under IAEA supervision and was regularly inspected, and there were also French technicians in constant attendance. The supply of HEU as fuel was carefully staggered, and used fuel had to be returned to France, making a diversion of fuel into a weapons program obvious and therefore unlikely; any noticed diversion would have meant an immediate end to further supplies. Similarly, the clandestine irradiation of uranium could not have taken place undetected; the repeated, slow, and costly changing of uranium rods would have been obvious. IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), established as an autonomous organization on July 29, 1957, seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for military purposes. ...

Attack on Osiraq

Although most agreed that Iraq was years away from being able to build a nuclear weapon, the Iranians and the Israelis felt any raid must occur well before nuclear fuel was loaded to prevent nuclear fallout. Further, Israel's Menachem Begin feared that Israel's next elected government would not act until a nuclear weapon was created. Nuclear Fuel is used to generate Nuclear power. ... Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion and is named from the fact that it falls out of the atmosphere in to which it is spread during the explosion. ... Menachem Begin on the front cover of TIME 1982. ...

The Iranian attack on the site on September 30, 1980 had little success. After Israeli intelligence agencies confirmed to Menachem Begin Iraq's intent to use the reactor to produce weapons, Begin authorized an Israeli strike to take place. Flying from Etzion air base on June 7, 1981, an IAF strike force flew 1,100 km (683.5 mi) across Jordan, Saudi Arabia and into Iraq to bomb the target. Arriving at around 17:30, the strike force quickly destroyed the reactor site. One French technician was killed in the attack. The strike force supposedly evaded detection by flying so close to each other on the long journey that, instead of appearing as a squadron of small fighters on radar, they appeared as a single large jet, and not much attention was given to them, however, Rodger W. Claire's book: Raid on the Sun, seems to list this as a myth. One of the Israeli pilots on the mission was Ilan Ramon, who would later become Israel's first astronaut and die in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster on February 1, 2003. For more complete account of the bombing, see the book mentioned above. September 30 is the 273rd day of the year (274th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 92 days remaining, as the final day of September. ... 1980 is a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 1981 is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... Ilan Ramon (Courtesy: NASA) Ilan Ramon (אילן רמון) (June 20, 1954 – February 1, 2003) was an Israeli combat pilot and later Israels first astronaut and space shuttle payload specialist of STS-107 (Columbia) who was killed when the craft disintegrated during reentry into the Earths atmosphere. ... U.S. Space Shuttle astronaut Bruce McCandless II using a manned maneuvering unit. ... Shuttle debris falling over Texas, on Time cover The Space Shuttle Columbia disaster was the disintegration of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) over Texas on February 1, 2003, during reentry into the Earths atmosphere. ... February 1 is the 32nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Political fallout

The attack was regarded as being in breach with the United Nations Charter and international law and was widely condemned. The Security Council passed a unanimous resolution where it "strongly condemns the military attack by Israel in clear violation of the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international conduct." (S/RES/487). The United Nations Charter is the constitution of the United Nations. ...

Aftermath

The loss of the reactor was a serious blow to the Iraqi nuclear program. France finally declined to assist in the reconstruction of the reactor in 1984 after initially agreeing to provide technical help. The Iraqi nuclear weapons program was forced to turn to less efficient uranium enrichment processes such as electromagnetic isotope separation (EMIS). 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The site was closed and held under IAEA supervision. The Iraqi government made efforts to recover components from the site in September, 1990. But during the Gulf War, after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the nuclear program was put into high gear in order to create a weapon by using radioactive fuel. The site was then targeted by Coalition forces on January 17, 1991, halting the weapons program. Three days into the Desert Storm air raids, 56 F-16s attacked the facility followed by F-117 raids three days later. The facility, one of Iraq's most fortified targets, was not fully destroyed until another raid, when 48 F-117s targeted the facility 7 more times for over a month as well as 17 F-111Fs weeks later. Only 19 days into the strikes did the US Defense Intelligence Agency, find the site to be "severely degraded". 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The 1991 Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations mandated by the United Nations and led by the United States. ... January 17 is the 17th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1991 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... See also: 2003 invasion of Iraq and Gulf War (disambiguation) C Company, 1st Battalion, The Staffordshire Regiment, 1st UK Armoured Division The Persian Gulf War was a conflict between Iraq and a coalition force of 34 nations led by the United States. ... The F-16 Fighting Falcon is a modern multi-role jet fighter aircraft built in the United States and used by dozens of countries all over the world. ... The United States Air Forces F-117A Nighthawk is the worlds first operational aircraft designed to exploit low-observable stealth technology. ... A U.S. Air Force F-111 The General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark (the nickname was unofficial for most of its lifespan, but it was officially named Aardvark at its retirement ceremony for the United States Air Force) is a long-range strategic bomber, reconnaissance, and tactical strike aircraft. ... // Overview The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), designated in 1986 as a United States Department of Defense combat support intelligence agency was established in 1961. ...

Iraqi scientists Khidir Hamza and Imad Khadduri, notably, declared that the consequence of the raid was to encourage Saddam Hussein to pursue the Iraq military nuclear program further, increasing the country's involvement [1]:

…actually, what Israel [did] is that it got out the immediate danger out of the way. But it created a much larger danger in the longer range. What happened is that Saddam ordered us — we were 400… scientists and technologists running the program. And when they bombed that reactor out, we had also invested $400 million. And the French reactor and the associated plans were from Italy. When they bombed it out we became 7,000 with a $10 billion investment for a secret, much larger underground program to make bomb material by enriching uranium. We dropped the reactor out totally, which was the plutonium for making nuclear weapons, and went directly into enriching uranium… They [Israel] estimated we'd make 7 kg of plutonium a year, which is enough for one bomb. And they get scared and bombed it out. Actually it was much less than this, and it would have taken a much longer time. But the program we built later in secret would make six bombs a year

(Khidir Hamza, "Crossfire transcript," CNN, February 7, 2003)

External links

• Osiraq / Tammuz I, Federation of American Scientists
• Iraq, Israel and the United Nations, Double standards, The Economist (UK)
• Israel's Air Strike Against The Osiraq Reactor: A Retrospective (Adobe PDF), Temple International and Comparative Law Journal
• Security Council Resolution 487
• Reactor location: 33° 12′ 30″ N 44° 31′ 30″ E