Posted on 06/25/2004 11:44:26 PM PDT by Destro
U.S. device seen at Iran nuclear site
2004-06-25 / Reuters /
A radiation monitoring device spotted in Iran at a razed site where Washington suspects Iran conducted covert atomic bomb-related research was itself made in the United States and sold directly to Tehran, sources said.
A Western diplomat and an independent nuclear expert who follow the Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency told Reuters the radiation detection device - called a "whole body counter" - was identified as having been made by the Connecticut-based firm Canberra Industries, Inc.
The disclosure could prove embarrassing to Washington which has accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program and has called on countries to crack down on exports of even seemingly innocent machinery that could be used in weapons programs.
Tehran says it only wants nuclear power for electricity.
"There is no doubt that the whole-body counter came from Canberra Industries and under a legal export," said the nuclear science expert, who has analyzed satellite images of the site taken by the U.S. firm DigitalGlobe's Quickbird satellite.
The counter, used to measure radiation contamination in humans, was sold directly to a university or hospital in Iran in the early 1990s with a U.S. export license, the sources said.
The device was seen at Lavizan, situated near a military installation in Tehran. Satellite images of Lavizan show Tehran razed buildings and removed a significant amount of topsoil. Ironically, the U.S.-made device is the reason U.S. officials are convinced Iran pursued undeclared atomic activity there.
"The presence of the whole body counter there is weird and out of place, but it doesn't prove that there was any weapons activity going on at Lavizan," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security and a former U.N. weapons inspector.
"We need to know how it got there (from the hospital or university) and why," he added.
Lavizan was first mentioned in May 2003, when a group of Iranian exiles said it was a biological weapons research site.
Iran vehemently denied that it has conducted any undeclared nuclear or weapons-related activities at Lavizan. But a diplomat close to the IAEA said inspectors would go there "very soon."
Um...Clinton's nuclear weapons technology export policies?
I am sure Clinton discusses this in his book.
Whole body counters typically sell for $5 apiece or are given away with Geiger counters for sale on eBay.Anyone who works near X-ray machines needs to wear one, and every self-respecting survivalist owns at least one (I've got two).
This story is much ado about nothing.
You know the world does not see a distinction between Clinton and Bush - it is all lumped in as America - as we lump in Russiabe it under Putin or Yeltsin. When we have a bad president like Clinton selling nuclear dual use devices to Iran and then we tell the Russians don't sell potential dual use devices - the Russians and others look at us like hypocrites. That is the damage Clinton did.
Dude! They are not talking about tiny buttons on lapel body counters!!!
Or stated more accurately:
"A radiation monitoring device spotted in Iran at a razed site where the Bush Administration suspects Iran conducted covert atomic bomb-related research was itself made in the United States and sold directly to Tehran, under the Clinton Administration, sources said.
The much ado is pinning the the tail on that A$$ Dr. Kahn, NK, Germany and the Russians for proliferation. Just over the wire: Istanbul, June 25: International investigators are examining whether Syria acquired nuclear technology and expertise through the black market network operated by Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, according to a US official and western diplomats
http://www.canberra-hs.com/Products/pdf/9-18-03%20Radiagem%20ad.pdf
When they say "Canberra Industries" and "whole body detectors", I think of the above el-cheapo rad detectors.
Well said.....of course....you'll not see your version in the New York Times.
"Anyone who works near X-ray machines needs to wear one..."
Thanks, Southack. The closer we get to the Election, the more Reuters is downright nasty in its propaganda effort.
Why thank his error?
http://www.canberra.com/pdf/Products/Systems_pdf/2260.pdf
BUMP & Good to mention that the US sent at least one Nuke reactor to Iran for research purposes before 1979 revolution in that country.
A piece of radiation detection equipment does make a N bomb.
It's still outside of any relevant point. Can the detector be used to build a nuke? Was it illegal in the early 1990s for the device to be sold to Iranians? The anti-American Reuters piece is nothing more than a conspiracy story full of holes.
What year in the early 1990s was the detector sold? I do not trust Reuters, because Reuters has been publishing false information increasingly as the Election campaigns go on.
And what is this?
"...but it doesn't prove that there was any weapons activity going on at Lavizan,..."
The point in more reliable previous reports is that the device is out of place and suspicious in that location. It's obvious to all that it doesn't prove the whole case.
But as evidence, along with the topsoil and facilities removals, it does warrant much more suspicion against Iran than against he USA.
Clinton legacy
Indeed. Thanks for the ping!
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