Abstract:
In 1993, South African President F.W. de Klerk announced that South Africa had secretly built and then destroyed six nuclear weapons before it had signed the NPT in 1991. President de Klerk maintained that "at no time did South Africa acquire nuclear technology from another country." Under the terms of the NPT, South Africa opened its nuclear facilities to inspection by the IAEA. South Africa declared a stockpile of approximately 1,500kg of enriched uranium, of which 350kg was weapons-grade, to the IAEA. IAEA inspectors have made approximately 20 visits to South Africa's nuclear facilities, but approximately 15-25kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU) still remains unaccounted for.

In their book entitled Critical Mass, William Burrows and Robert Windrem discuss details of South African and Israeli nuclear collaboration. Burrows and Windrem claim that _Israel_ exchanged 30 grams of tritium for 600 metric tons of South African uranium oxide. The authors maintain that the double flash detected by a US satellite over the Indian Ocean on 22 September 1979 was an Israeli neutron bomb test executed with South African assistance. Foreign Report received an unconfirmed account of the blast revealing that Israel carried out the test with logistical support from the South African Navy without knowledge of the Atomic Energy Corporation of South Africa (AEC) and Ministry of Mines. Both Israel and South Africa have denied responsibility for the double flash. According to Burrows and Windrem, US intelligence claims a three-kiloton neutron bomb caused the blast, and an Israeli source said that three tests were carried out that day under dense cloud cover.