GeoEye spots Iranian nuclear site
Summary
Topics
The photo, taken Saturday, shows the facility at a military site about 20 miles north-northeast of Qum and 100 miles southwest of Tehran, GeoEye said. An analysis of the photo by IHS Jane's, a defense intelligence consulting firm, said the facility has a primary and several auxiliary entrances, ventilation shafts, a surface-to-air missile site, and quarry and construction equipment.
See the shots below for a view of what the companies say are the main and auxiliary entrances, the ventilation shafts, and an overall view.
The overall view of the Iranian site. The mountain under which the site is built is to the lower right of the image. Click to enlarge. (Credit: GeoEye satellite image/IHS Jane's analysis)
This view shows what IHS Jane's says are ventilation shafts and a possible auxiliary exit from the nuclear site.(Credit: GeoEye satellite image/IHS Jane's analysis)
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it received a letter Monday disclosing the facility, and on Friday Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was for uranium enrichment and was 18 months away from being operational.
Centrifuges can separate different isotopes of uranium to produced "enriched" uranium needed to make nuclear weapons; Iran said it's only enriching uranium for purposes of generating electricity. U.S. intelligence agencies said the newly revealed facility is designed to house 3,000 centrifuges, according to the New York Times and others.
The GeoEye-1 satellite took the photo while traveling north 423 miles above the Earth at 4 miles per second relative to the surface of the Earth. The satellite also supplies imagery for Google Maps and Google Earth.
At lower left in this shot is the main entrance to the facility; near it and to the upper right are two auxiliary access areas, according to an interpretation of the photo by IHS Jane's.Click to enlarge. (Credit: GeoEye satellite image/IHS Jane's analysis)
This article was originally posted on CNET News.
Talkback Most Recent of 50 Talkback(s)
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mswmv28th Sep 2009 -
tgreaves21227@...28th Sep 2009 -
Ever watch someone die of radiation poisining?
Maybe you should before making out of hand comments... the only nut job here is you.
Snooki_smoosh_smoosh28th Sep 2009 -
RE: GeoEye spots Iranian nuclear site
I do not worry, Israel does not miss around and will take care of it if they feel it is a threat, they have done it before and i am sure they will do it again. With or without US approval. In that sense, I love those guys!!!
Health_IT28th Sep 2009 -
For some people.
For some people, peace is a real threat. It is specially true for people that manage and keep the population in a latent state of terror.
The Israeli government in total spend more in "defense" rather in health and education altogether.
magallanes28th Sep 2009 -
I am sure you are correct, but... do you know why?
I have no reason to doubt what you said, and I am sure Israel would like to be able to spend that money in healh and education. But when you are surrounded by "fanatics" that will do about anything to destroy you, what else can you do but to invest on defending yourself? Do you understand?Health_IT28th Sep 2009 -
I hope you're right, but...
America DOES think of Israel as a vassal state,
only able to act with the permission of the US.
Look at Zbigniew Brzezinski's recent comments
where he said that the US should shoot down
Israeli aircraft if Israel dares to attack Iran
without US permission. Of course, you have to
look at his associations. He worked for Jimmy
Carter, one of the biggest anti-Semites ever to
reach the office of President (in my opinion).
I can only hope Obama is smarter.
davagain28th Sep 2009 -
RE: GeoEye spots Iranian nuclear site
You should not be worried, because you are not living
here, or any friends or relatives here. We have to
worry, worry about friends, relatives, young people,
babies, our hopes, wishes. You won't miss anything,
Israel attack us or US. We miss homes, jobs, .... Ever
do you think your fuel come from? You just use it. It is
not important how many people dies for your beautiful
life.
sshafieha28th Sep 2009 -
You are joking , right?
There you go again, all the problems over there are the US fault, yada yada ydada. Of course you or your government have no responnsibility.
OK, let's not do anything and wait until Iran has a nuclear weapon. What do you think will happen next? Can the world afford to take that chance?Health_IT28th Sep 2009 -
Maybe if you take your head out of the artificial reality that most
Americans live in, you would realize that the US influences most of the World Wide governments, and most of the extreme poverty that many in third world countries live in are directly due to dictators the US presidents have put in place VIA the CIA to protect the United States Facist views of the world to protect the US base MNC interests abroad.
Stop and ask yourself, why is it the United States has to import most of its oil? Oh that's right We the United States reserve the right to consume more than 30% of the rest of the worlds resources, but only count for a few percentage points in terms of global percentage of population. Talk about being glutinous with the world's resources. No wonder over the average American is obese.
And what do you think would really happen if Tehran gets a Nuclear Weapon? If they would ever use it, they would have the UN on their azz like white on rice. And at most they are a threat to the Middle East or Europe. They have no long range capabilities to get it to the US. So you can rest comfortably that should they set one off, it will only have an indirect impact on your life.Snooki_smoosh_smoosh28th Sep 2009 -
Huhhh? Are you for real?
So? Yes, Americans have a higher standard of living than most of the world, so? What is your point?
And, yes we do watch over our interests and protect them. so?
We also pay billions of dollars for the oil we consume, we do not steal it.
Now, that you over there do not know how to invest that money and improve yourselves is not our fault is it?. Think about it!Health_IT28th Sep 2009 -
rice, etc.
Just the statement about the UN coming down on Iran like "white on rice" if they use a nuke is dangerous at best...
One, what good would it do once a nuclear bomb had already been detonated? Answer- NONE.
Two, what could the UN ever hope to accomplish without the US? Answer- NOTHING.
You can be sure that, with or without the UN, the US WILL protect their (and the Earth's) interests against those madmen of the world who's only goals are chaos and death.
~Peace~
John N.28th Sep 2009 -
Whinging ad nauseum.
So you are guaranting me that any nuclear devices that Iran detonates will not produce radioactive byproducts that just might find their way around the world?
A long range missile is the only option for delivering a nuclear device? That no other means exist? "We have ships anchored in several of your major harbours with nuclear devices that will be detonated if you do not give in to our demands! For now, we will detonate the one in Puget Sound to show we are serious -- and wiping out Microsoft is a nice bonus."
Yes, that would take fanatics. Given the human wave tactics used in the Iran/Iraq war, it would appear that finding fanatics is not all that hard to do in that part of the world.
Gee.. the UN on their ass like white on rice. Blow up another 5 cities and we will sanction you -- if the main assembly or the security counsel ever get their acts together long enough to do anything at any speed other than glacial.
Or as an even cheerier thought, check the various idea on the design and delivery (if needed) of a doomsday device. Build yourself an oversized fission/fusion/fission device, jacket it in a fine array of soon to be highly radioactive materials and detonate. While not quite the handy dandy planet wide exterminator it is portrayed as in fiction, it would work quite well for ending disputes with your close neighbours. Hey, no populace, no popular unrest.
Hmmm... detonate a bomb in Moscow and we can find out if Wired was right in claiming that "Dead Hand" is still active. Search on "dead hand", perimeter and/or "mertvaya ruka". Transliterating the latter back to Cyrillic is left as an exercise for the student.
DNSB28th Sep 2009 -
No, no, no
You have it wrong: It doesn't matter how many terrorist rag-heads die. Not people.
apolloone1@...1st Oct 2009 -
RE: GeoEye spots Iranian nuclear site
Do you think Obama is Iranian, or you think Iran in
Africa? Why do you think Obama has any relative here?sshafieha28th Sep 2009
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