IAEA seeks explanation from Iran on nuclear weapon implosion device:
This is huge. Conventional wisdom was that Iran would first try to build a working bomb, then move on to more advanced designs to shrink and fit on to one of their ballistic missiles. Now we learn that Iran is skipping that step and moving directly to a compact, fully deliverable weapon. More concerning is what comes after solving two point implosion: the Teller-Ulam bomb, more commonly known as the hydrogen bomb. The Iranian regime has been very clever in its development of a nuclear weapons program. Using a horizontal model where they first lined up all the necessary “ingredients” for advanced nuclear weapons –heavy water plants, experimental reactors, plutonium refining plants and uranium enrichment facilities — means that they can shoot directly for a thermonuclear device instead of toying around with a Fat Man or Little Boy like we did in the 1940s. North Korea’s program was vertical, doing just enough to create some sort of functional device. It was a dud. Iran’s will not be. This is bad news. It means that as soon as Iran successfully tests a bomb (if they even test one, remember the first time we detonated a uranium gun-barrel type bomb was over Hiroshima, so reliable was the design) they will immediately be able to mate the weapon to one of their Shahab missiles, capable of reaching Israel. If Iran develops a solid-fueled rocket as well, they’ll have a potential thermonuclear launch-on-warning capability just like the five members of the Security Council.
