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Japan Today
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Japan Today
U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites pose limited radiation risks
This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows the Fordo enrichment facility in Iran on Jan. 24, 2025. (Maxar Technologies via AP) By BASSEM MROUE and STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN With the United States joining Israel in its attacks on Iran's nuclear program, here is what we know about the radiation threat, and other health risks. Iran enriches uranium at two key sites, Natanz and Fordo. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces struck both sites, along with a third site, Isfahan, early Sunday, and Iran's state-run IRNA news agency confirmed the strikes. It was not immediately clear if radiation had been released by those strikes, but the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has said it did not detect major releases from earlier Israeli strikes, and experts said the risks of a major release are relatively low. The Islamic Republic's leaders say their nuclear program is for the peaceful purpose of harnessing atomic energy. But highly enriched uranium — which is radioactive — is used in the manufacture of atomic weapons, and Israel is determined to prevent Iran from having them. At Natanz, some 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, uranium had been enriched to up to 60% purity — a mildly radioactive level and a short step away from weapons grade — before Israel destroyed the aboveground part of the facility in earlier strikes, according to the IAEA. Another part of the Natanz facility is below ground, and where most of its centrifuges are to protect them from airstrikes. The IAEA said it believes that most if not all of these centrifuges were destroyed by an Israeli strike that cut off power to the site. These centrifuges had been enriching up to 5% purity, according to experts. While radiological and chemical contamination are likely inside Natanz, radiation levels outside the complex remain normal, Rafael Grossi, chief of the IAEA, said during an urgent session of the IAEA board on June 16. The Fordo nuclear enrichment site is buried deep below a mountain, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, and is close to the Shiite holy city of Qom. Iran produces most of its near weapons-grade material there — and for that reason it is considered a high-value target for the Israelis. But its location deep underground makes it difficult to attack, which is why the U.S. apparently deployed powerful 'bunker buster' bombs in Sunday's strikes. Even so, experts said any potential radiation impact from a strike on Fordo is likely to be similar to the impact at Natanz. In short, there would be some chemical hazards on site, and some radiation, but at levels that would be manageable with respiratory devices and other protective gear. Israel also previously struck four buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site, among them a uranium conversion facility. The IAEA said there has been no sign of increased radiation at Isfahan, which is roughly 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran. Even if radiation did leak from one of the sites, experts said, the amount would be unlikely to pose a risk to people near the facilities or in the wider region. 'Very little uranium will be released in these kind of attacks,' said David Albright, a physicist and nuclear weapons expert who founded the Institute for Science and International Security, based in Washington, D.C. Uranium itself is not especially toxic, he said, and is common in parts of the environment. A person standing near an enrichment facility with a leak would probably be exposed to no more radiation than someone who took several trans-Atlantic flights, which receive slightly higher radiation because radiation doses are larger at high altitudes, he said. In order to become sick, someone would have to ingest large quantities of uranium, Albright said, pointing out that the element can be found naturally in seawater and the earth's crust. Rather than radiation, experts said the greater risk from any attack on nuclear enrichment sites might be from fluorine gas. Fluorine is mixed with a concentrated form of uranium to create uranium hexafluoride, which is then fed into centrifuges. Fluorine is extremely volatile, will quickly corrode and can burn the skin. It is especially deadly if inhaled. A far greater concern to the public would be if Israel were to attack Iran's only commercial nuclear power plant, said Fabian Hinz of the International Institute of Strategic Studies. In a nuclear power plant, the reactor core and the spent nuclear fuel are the most radioactive components. Some of it remains dangerous for thousands of years. The Bushehr power plant is 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Tehran. But 'it seems very unlikely that the Israelis are going to strike' Bushehr, Hinz said, because it isn't considered to be part of the Iranian nuclear program geared toward developing weapons. © Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Ya Libnan
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Ya Libnan
South Lebanon votes in municipal elections, where Hezbollah is running in an alliance with Amal
BY BASSEM MROUE In this photo, released by the Lebanese Presidency press office, Lebanese president Joseph Aoun, left, casts his vote at a polling station during municipal elections on his village of Aishiyeh, south Lebanon, Saturday, May 24, 2025. (Lebanese Presidency press office via AP) BEIRUT — Residents of southern Lebanon voted Saturday in the country's municipal elections that will test support for Hezbollah in the predominantly Shiite areas, months after the end of the destructive Israel-Hezbollah war. Hezbollah is running in an alliance with the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and both are expected to win mayoral races and the majority of seats in municipal councils. Both groups already won many municipalities uncontested. South Lebanon is the fourth and last district to vote in the elections since May 4. Among those who voted Saturday were Hezbollah members wounded in the Sept. 17, 2024, explosions of thousands of pagers that blew up near-simultaneously in an operation carried out by Israel. More than a dozen were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded. 'The will of life is stronger than death and the will of construction is stronger than destruction,' President Joseph Aoun said during a tour of south Lebanon Saturday. He told reporters in his hometown of Aaichiyeh that he voted for the first time in 40 years. Saturday's vote came two days after Israel's air force carried out intense airstrikes in different parts of south Lebanon. Residents of villages and towns on the border with Israel, including the village of Kfar Kila that was almost completely destroyed during the war, cast their ballots at polling stations set up in the nearby city of Nabatiyeh. Residents of other border villages cast their ballots in the port city of Tyre. 'Southerners are proving again that they are with the choice of resistance,' Hezbollah legislator Ali Fayad, who represents border villages, said in Nabatiyeh. Lebanon's cash-strapped government has been scrambling to secure international funds for the war reconstruction, which the World Bank estimates at over $11 billion. Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after a deadly Hamas-led incursion into southern Israel sparked the war in Gaza. Israel responded with shelling and airstrikes in Lebanon that escalated into a full-blown war that left more than 4,000 dead in Lebanon and more than 80 soldiers and 47 civilians in Israel. A U.S.-brokered ceasefire went into effect in late November. According to UN resolution 1701, Hezbollah is supposed to be disarmed but so far has refused to do so . 1701 also calls for complete monopoly of arms by the state. Unless Hezbollah disarms there will be no reconstruction in Lebanon since none of the donor states is willing to help Lebanon as long as Hezbollah remains its negotiations with Iran , the US is insisting that Iran should not be supporting its proxies , including Hezbollah, the Houthis and the Shiite militia in Iraq AP
