'Iran Strike Won't Lead To Civilian Disaster'
Israeli expert challenges claim radioactive fallout from strike on nuclear sites will lead to humanitarian catastrophe.
An Israeli nuclear expert has challenged claims by an Iranian-American philanthropist and industrialist that a military strike on Iran will lead to an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe.
Ephraim Asculai, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, published a response essay to a paper by Khosrow Bayegan Semnani, based in Salt Lake City, who claimed last year that radioactive fallout from military strikes on Iranian nuclear sites could leave up to 70,000 Iranians dead.
Asculai, who worked for the Israel Atomic Energy Commission for over 40 years, mainly on issues of nuclear and environmental safety, said the rubble produced by air strikes, combined with the fact that the targeted facilities are underground, would minimize damage to the site’s surroundings.
“Although it is not possible to foresee the consequences of direct hits on Iranian underground facilities, it is reasonable to assess that either the underground facilities will be penetrated and exploded from within, or hit, and collapse into the inner cavities and turn into piles of rubble, or with their innards at least gravely harmed. These piles of rubble would act as filters, with their greater surface areas holding onto or reacting with the materials released within, and thus preventing the major contents from escaping to the atmosphere and causing grave environmental harm,” Asculai said in his essay published last week.
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http://www.jpost.com/Iranian-Threat/News/Iran-strike-wont-lead-to-civilian-disaster-315107
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