Iran Missing Uraniun Nuclear Stockpile before US B2 Strike Leaked Reports:- despite extensive damage to the targeted sites Fordo Nton and Isvahan Iran secretly relocated its 400 kg stockpile of 60% enriched uranium to an undisclosed location before the US air strikes on its nuclear facilities unusual truck activity at Fordo in the days leading up to the strikes satellite imagery revealed a convoy of 16 cargo trucks lined up along the main road leading to the tunnel entrance of the Ford fuel enrichment plant this was highly unusual as such large-scale vehicle activity had not been observed before suggesting preparations to transport sensitive materials.
the following day most of the trucks had disappeared from the site while a few were spotted about a kilometer away from the tunnel entrance the scale and timing of this movement strongly indicated the removal of critical assets most likely the enriched uranium tunnel sealing operations additional satellite images showed trucks and bulldozers positioned near the main tunnel entrances some vehicles appeared to be involved in sealing off the tunnels likely in an effort to prevent inspection or further attacks these actions suggest a coordinated effort to secure or hide what had been stored inside according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
and US intelligence the underground enrichment halls and tunnel entrances sustained very significant damage some tunnels were reportedly collapsed or backfilled in anticipation of an air strike above ground infrastructure including power systems and facilities linked to uranium conversion and metal production was heavily damaged or destroyed leaked reports from the US Defense Intelligence Agency based on initial battle damage assessments by US Central Command confirm the credibility of these findings .
however the assessments also note that the strikes did not eliminate the core components of Iran’s nuclear program most centrifuges enriched uranium stock piles survived intact as a result the DI estimates that while Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been delayed they have only been set back by a few months not dismantled but let’s take a look at the possible scenarios where they have hidden these nuclear centrifuges evidence and expert analysis suggests Iran may have moved nuclear material from Fordo to several possible locations one likely option is the underground tunnel network at sites like the Espahan nuclear complex which reportedly remained intact after recent air strikes necands with its history of underground construction could also house some of the material major nuclear facilities like Isfahan and Nitton have the capacity to store such material
even after partial damage iran may also have relocated it to secret or undeclared sites including military bases like Parchin or unknown underground bunkers dispersing the material across hidden locations would reduce the risk of total loss let’s show how this is extracted through super simplified animation the centrifuge consists of a high-grade tube with a spinning motor at the bottom and a feeding tube at the top uranium is fed into the centrifuge as a gas called uranium hexaflloride as the motor spins at high speed the heavier uranium 238 is separated from the lighter uranium 235 using centrifugal force the uranium 235 floats to the top and is collected at this section of the centrifuge while the heavier uranium 238 in the color green falls to the bottom of the centrifuge and the enrichment process is complete if the nuclear enrichment are 90% pure and compressed into rods.
this is how it might work and the most important part is the uranium 235 hollow projectile rings it weighs around 84 lb or 38.4 kg while at the front is the uranium target rings that weigh around 56.2 lb or 25.6 6 kg closely note as it is very important to understand the projectile ring slugs are hollowed and designed for the target rings to enter these are the three electric gun primers the primer is the device responsible for initiating the propellant combustion located here also known as the cordate or conventional charge that will push this projectile at an explosive force all these mechanism and parts are encased in a 6.5 in or 170 mm smooth boore gun barrel moving to the front this is the impact absorbing anvil just above it is the tungsten carbide plug these are the four palonium initiators placed on the tungsten.
carbide they are kept to make sure there will be a nuclear chain reaction when it is dropped and activated moving to the top of the structure are the arming and fusing equipment let’s move outside this atomic bomb to understand it better these are the barometric sensing ports and manifolds the barometer helps to identify the altitude at which the bomb is located so that it can activate this archy fusing radar altimeter which is these curvylook objects that activates before reaching the ground just above it is the electric plug and some refer to this as the arming wires if the nuclear enrichment are 90% pure and compressed into rods this is how it might work before opening the Bombay doors all three arming plugs are pulled one after the other the doors open and the bomb falls due to gravity then it switches to its internal 24VT battery and starts the timer after 15 seconds the bomb would be approximately 3,600 ft or 1,100 m away from the aircraft the parameter senses the desired height of around 580 m or 1,900 ft as the little boy was designed to be an air burst above the ground .
the membrane closed a circuit activating the multiple radar altimeters located at the front of the bombs the barometric stage was added because of a worry that external radar signals might detonate the weapon too early to ensure accurate detection of final altitude multiple radar altimeters were utilized this process involves measuring the altitude above the ground beneath the aircraft or the little boy through the timing of radio waves travel reflection and return once the correct height was sensed the firing switch activates this ignites the three Navy gun primers in the brereech plug this sets off the charge consisting of four silk powder bags each containing 2 lb or 0.9 kg of cordite the uranium projectile will be launched at 300 m/s toward the opposite end of the gun barrel four palonium initiators placed on the tungsten carbide initiate the nuclear reactions this is where nuclear fishision happens let’s dive a little bit deeper the neutron strikes .
the nucleus and is absorbed the absorbed neutron causes the nucleus to undergo deformation the nucleus fish releases an average of two or three neutrons thus creating a chain reaction or in some words an explosion let’s simplify this through these animations once the correct height is sensed the firing switch activates the three Navy gun primers ignite the charge consisting of four silk powder bags each containing 2 lb or 0.9 kg of cordite the uranium projectile is launched at 300 m/s at this point four palonium initiators placed on the tungsten carbide initiate nuclear fishision reactions in a milliseconds there will be an explosion damaging buildings and killing people by the thousands now moving back to Fordo let’s take a look at why this nuclear enrichment site is so hard to destroy fordo is protected by a complex network of defenses including six tunnel entrances leading into its underground uranium enrichment facility .
the most critical parts of the site specifically the enrichment infrastructure are buried deep inside a tunnel approximately 200 meters long carved directly into the side of a mountain the main enrichment chamber is believed to sit directly beneath the mountain ridge line hidden under a massive layer of rock from the tunnel entrance to the chamber.
the distance spans roughly 200 m the terrain itself adds another layer of defense it starts off with a gentle slope near the tunnel entrances but becomes significantly steeper about 160 m from the ridge providing natural protection from overhead strikes and here’s where it becomes even more challenging if the enrichment chamber sits at the same elevation as the tunnel entrances it’s shielded by approximately 40 m of solid rock when approached from narrow vertical angles around 25° a bomb dropped directly from above or even at a 40° offaxis angle as would be typical for a high altitude strike from a subsonic B2 bomber would need to break through up to 40 m of dense mountain rock to reach its target to overcome this the US deployed six B2 Spirit bombers each armed with GBU57 massive ordinance penetrators deep penetrating bunker buster bombs designed for hardened targets like Fordo.
these strikes targeted the mountain ridge directly above the tunnel network and underground enrichment halls aiming to penetrate the fortified layers and disrupt Iran’s nuclear operations the B2s also targeted at least six of the known tunnel entrances leading into the facility post strike satellite imagery along with assessments from weapons experts confirmed that at least three of the four main entrances sustained significant damage large craters were visible near these access points indicating a direct hit and probable disruption to the facility’s internal infrastructure.