Opinion
Time to shut down reactor
Issam Makhoul
Published: 31.07.07, 19:43
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1. Issam, please, don't think Jews are stupid...
Avraham ,   NYC   (07.31.07)
and don't camouflage your ideas. Be open. Say, close down the reactor, Israelis, 'cause I don't want you to have that extra deterrence level.
2. I see Makhoul wants balance of power tipped in favor of Iran
Nannette ,   London   (07.31.07)
No surprise there!
3. Shut down reactor
ELY GREENHUT ,   Tzfat Israel   (07.31.07)
Israeli scientists are so advanced they should figure out a way to make energy from other sources like from the sun.
4. Of course, any excuse to weaken Israel
Gary ,   N. Jersey   (07.31.07)
is a good excuse. Nice try! What Israel needs is nuclear subs. The power of deterrence would be greatly enhanced.
5. That's right, Mr. Makhoul. And IDF should be disbanded.
The Raccoon   (07.31.07)
6. Close this one idiots and build another new one
Ahmed ,   Palestine   (07.31.07)
with the new security levels to protect yourself in first place and protect the others from a possible nuclear polution, This one is more than 50 years old and need to be replaced.
7. Nice to hear Issam,what about Nasrallah P.O.V.?
Sammy ,   Paris   (07.31.07)
8. And what are his sources for all these assertions?
Antonio ,   Haifa   (07.31.07)
Arab media? Only an Arab demagogue from Hadash (an Arab party) would write such ignorance. Nuclear powerplants have failsafes. The one in Japan shut down automatically. The Chernobyl one was an older design and the maintenance of it was neglected. There is no danger either in Dimona, or in Japan, or in France which generates some 67% of its power from nuclear powerplants.
9. keep the boiler running becuase when we come
tea man ,   marjayoun lebanon   (07.31.07)
we like our tea to be hot do not close it now while it have some breath in it 50 years so what its not that old
10. #4 - yes Israeli has no (wink wink nod nod) subs yet...
(07.31.07)
Israeli should acquire some (more?)
11. #3
mark ,   ca   (07.31.07)
energy ? :-)
12. OK, if it's so close to a geo fault...
Robert ,   Los Angeles   (07.31.07)
...then let's build 5-10 more reactors that aren't. THEN you can xfer assets an shut it down.
13. Shut down the Dimona nuclear plant before it is attacked...
Rivkah   (07.31.07)
The Prophet Zephaniah warned Ashkelon will be a desolation after Gaza is forsaken. When the nuclear plant at Chernobyl melted down, that was by a deflected HAARP weather weapons attack on California in an attempt to cause earthquakes by Russia that was deflected back to hit Chernobyl, I have read. California was protected, but the deflected electromagnetic energy weather weapons hit Chernobyl and that contaminated the entire world's drinking water supply according to Dr. David Edwards of Fresno, the physician of the year for America a few years ago. It is better to shut down nuclear plants than to risk a repeat of that awful disaster.
14. #1 he is right: for defence Isreal is dependent anyway
iandl ,   Europe   (07.31.07)
He is quite right about the environmental risks. Israel is in any case dependent on the US for defense: so why not for nuclear matters too (like the UK). The environmental risk of continuing to run the reactor is probably greater than the political risks involved in obtaining nuclear materials or weapons systems from elsewhere. If it is sitting on plutonium stockpiles, then it only needs to maintain the material in the warheads which as far as I am aware is a chemical process and no longer involves the reactor. The chemical processing is dangerous enough in itself in terms of waste production and potential leaks. Better admittedly would be none ... but that is unlikely at the moment. Shutting down the reactor would be a good start and would not reduce Israel's current weapons capability.
15. Nukular (as the yanks say)
Juan ,   Spain   (07.31.07)
The main problem with this article is that it makes lots of statements, without backing them up with any facts or figures. It could have been written by a 10 year old as a school project. It takes no account of the maintainence of the reactor, nor does it have any official comments. Where is the basis for emotive statements like "Then we will be left to die in great suffering along with our neighbours" Come on Ynet, you can do better than this!
16. Introduce a bill in Iran to shut down their reactor
Steve ,   USA   (07.31.07)
B"H Introduce a bill in Iran to shut down their reactor. Let us see this get sold to the Iranians with convincing arguments. I am sure these can be found. Convince the Egyptians also.
17. Atomic energy
Christian ,   Norway   (07.31.07)
Solar energy can be one good alternative in countries in ex. the middel east, but for countries far north like my own this will never be the major source of energy. Atomic power is in my opinion the future source for energy to make electisity. The reason why i say that is because the new generation nuclearplants are extremely safe and clan. And in the future the torium plants will come and that will make it even more safe. If it's true this reactor is so dangerous the writer says it should be shout down, and Israel should build a new one, safe like ones the are bulding in Finland. Mind my words, nuclear energy is the future combined with solar energy. I am sure the israelis have full controll about the situation.
18. wE SHOULD BUILD ANOTHER TWO REACTORS
jason white ,   afula,israel   (07.31.07)
And make the fifth column pay for them.We should build hundreds more nuclear bombs and missiles to carry them The arabs and hara-dim should pay for all of this.
19. No Nukes is Good Nukes
emanon ,   USA   (07.31.07)
Once again, this serves to remind us all THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS SAFE NUCLEAR POWER
20. #10 - If Israel had nuclear subs, we'd know about it
Gary ,   N. Jersey   (07.31.07)
Judging by the loyalties in some government people and its policies, I don't think they could keep a secret that big. Israel has too many enemies within.
21. why publish this rubbish?
tom ,   toronto, canada   (08.01.07)
22. #6
am yisrael chai ,   judea and samaria   (08.01.07)
Us idiots as you put it can always just continue dumping the waste on your (palestinian) side of the fence....and who knows secretly this site in dimona may just be a white elephant wiht modern sites already built and running all over our land of milk and honey....who's the idiots NOT US ISRAELIS...
23. Dimona
M. Harltey ,   Atlanta, US   (07.31.07)
For all anybody knows, Dimona's been shut down, already, and merely serves as a decoy for the other ones that are nice and neatly tucked away somewhere else.
24. #13 Rivkah - What are you smoking?
Eric ,   Holmdel, USA   (08.01.07)
I found your comment amusing until I realized that you might actually believe what you had written. For starters read the Wikipedia article on Chernobyl http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster#The_accident for some basic background on the accident and its implications. If you are more technically inclined, please view the INSAG-7 Safety Report published by the IAEA http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/Pub913e_web.pdf in 1992. If you are concerned that HAARP experiments are designed to generate seismic activity, please rest easier tonight knowing that this is not only false but impossible given the current laws of physics (at least in this universe). The HAARP program concerns Ionospheric Physics and Radio Science (the ionosphere is a key factor in the transmission of electromagnetic energy, including radio frequencies, beyond the line of sight). The idea that such low frequency, relatively low energy experiments would cause catastrophic damage to a large scale structure is laughable. Some information on HAARP is located at: http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/ (The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program). I am sure that the reactor at Dimona has enough risk factors to discuss as it is; there is no need to reach into the realm of fantasy in search of more. The truth will make you free!
25. Close Dimona? Depends on whether sufficient plutonium or...
Scott ,   USA   (08.01.07)
U-2335 has already been produced. Only Israel knows how many bombs it can make, and how many it needs. If its needs are met, why not? Dimona is a tempting target.
26. Dimona is a problem but the weapons are important
zionist forever   (08.01.07)
Dimona only provides Israel with a fraction of its energy sources the thing was built with weapons in mind not generating electrcity, If Israel has enough plotonium to keep up its neuclear weapons program running then Dimona should be closed but if a reactor is ncececary then the government should invest a little bit of money for a change on security if Israel has the ability then it should build its own reactor to replace the one in Dimona if the technology doesnt exist for Israel to go it alone then it should look abroad ... the Russians are willing to sell anyhting at the right price if the Americans and Europeans wont, Israel has growing relations with China they would be willing to build a reactor I am sure. It is true that Dimona needs to be closed sooner rather than later but but at the same time an alternative needs to be found to develop weapoons because at this stage the Middle East is much to unstable for Israel to start talkimg about giving them up especialy with Iran trying to develop its own nukes. This is an issue that the politicians, scientists and millitary need to work out just because Dimonas does the job today doesnt mean it can do the job indefaintly.
27. Dimona's nuclear plant and Iran
Yiannis Kareklas ,   Athens Greece   (08.01.07)
You should think seriously selling the Dimona nuclear plant to Iran's Ahmadinejad and deliver it there with a 5 minutes fuse. I guess Ahmadinejad would be happy to find his 72 virgins with open legs waiting for him.
28. Knee jerk reaction
Shachar ,   Eilat   (08.01.07)
The knee jerk reaction to an Arab writer shows a lack of intelligence. There are things he is right about and things he is wrong about. Dimona is an old reactor and despite two upgrades it has reached an age when it should be shut down. We should be looking at purchasing a new reactor, a much larger one which would also supply the national grid for the years to come...
29. #9: Come NOW "tea-man". The kettle is on, ready to burn you
The Doc ,   Haifa, Israel   (08.01.07)
Are you looking forward for yet another "victory"? Then welcome - it seems that you like living under rubble, ratholes and without electricity.
30. Ah now the context is clear: proposed new reactor
iandl ,   Europe   (08.01.07)
Then it is clear that the author has genuine concerns about the environmental impacts and is not using them as an excuse to attack the Israeli nuclear weapons programme. See the news item.
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