Name: Al-Atheer
Other Names: al-Athir, Ma'mal al-Athir; Project 6000; Al-Hadre; Facility 190;[1] Al Firnas
Address/Location: 68km southwest of Baghdad at al-Musayin near al-Musayyib
Subordinate to: PC-3; Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization (MIMI)
Size: The site covers an area approximately 35,000 square meters and consists of several buildings.
Primary Function: Nuclear weapons testing, development and production
Description: The construction of the Al-Atheer site began in 1988 and operations began in April 1990.[2] It was determined through numerous inspection that the Al-Atheer facility was designed and constructed as the principal site for nuclear weapons testing, development and production, which had uranium and plutonium handling capabilities.[3] Al-Atheer plant also served as a materials production center. The plant was involved in the range of activities, including uranium casting and metallurgy, core assembly, explosive lens assemble, and detonics testing.[4] Al-Atheer has "companion facilities" at Al-Hatheen and Al-Musayyib within a common fence line.[5]
Al-Atheer was purposefully designed for large-scale uranium metallurgy. It housed induction furnaces, plasma-coating machines, computer controlled drills and lathes. Sources, presumably from within the facility, noted that Al-Atheer was equipped with hoods that could handle HEU, but not with glove boxes, which would imply lack of plutonium handling capability. Between July and December 1990 some actual weapons production took place.[6] Upon inspections remote control equipment for shaping and machining explosives was found at Al-Atheer.[7]
Key Sources:
[1] Tim Ripley, "Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Programme," Jane's Intelligence Review, December 1992.
[2] Mark Hibbs, "IAEA Thinks Iraq May Have Capability to Make Nuclear High-Explosives," NuclearFuel, Vol. 16, No. 18, 2 September 1991.
[3] Ibid.; "Major Sites Associated With Iraq's Past WMD Programs," UNSCOM, 3 December 1997, <http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/un/
971203_sites.htm>.
[4] "Major Sites Associated With Iraq's Past WMD Programs," UNSCOM, 3 December 1997, <http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/iraq/
un/971203_sites.htm>.
[5] Report on the Fourth IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687 (1991), UN Doc S/22986, 28 August 1991, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_22986.pdf>.
[6] "Iraqi Nuclear Weapons," CIA Gulflink, 24 April 1996, <http://www.fas.org/irp/gulf/cia/960424/65819_01.htm>.
[7] Tim Ripley, "Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Programme," Jane's Intelligence Review, December 1992.
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Name: Al-Hatteen State Establishment[8]
Other Names: Al-Hatheen; Al-Musayyaib; Al-Musayyib[9]
Address/Location: Adjacent to Al-Atheer; within a common fence line
Subordinate to: PC-3; Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization (MIMI)
Size: Presumably a large and sprawling complex covering several buildings or row of buildings
Primary Function: Nuclear weapons testing, development and production
Description:
During numerous IAEA inspections, 12 tons of RDX explosives and a total of 242 CNC machine tools, which includes 94 Matrix Churchill CNC machines, series 3 or 4, were discovered at Al-Hatteen.[10] Additionally, high-speed computers may have once been installed at these facilities. These are believed to have come from western companies E.Z. Logic Data Systems and International Computer Systems.[11] The facilities that appear to belong explicitly to Al-Hatteen site include the high explosives test site (Building 33), laboratories (Building 21), and new storage.[12]
Key Sources:
[8] From the diagram of Al-Atheer site, it appears that the Al-Hatteen site was the composite name for the facilities located in the Southwest corner of Al-Atheer.
[9] Mark Hibbs, "IAEA Thinks Iraq May Have Capability to Make Nuclear High-Explosives," NuclearFuel, Vol. 16, No. 18, 2 September 1991.
[10] Report on the 18th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under
Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/25666, 26 April 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/reports/
s_25666.pdf>.
[11] Kelly Motz, "The Real Target in Iraq," Iraq Watch Bulletin, January-February 2003, Vol. 2, Iss. 1,
<http://www.iraqwatch.org/bulletins/vol2iss1jan03.htm>.
[12] Report on the 12th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under
Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/24223, 2 July 1992, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/reports/
s_24223.pdf>.
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Name: Al-Kindi Research Complex[13]
Other Names: Saad 16; Sa'ad General Establishment; Research and Development Centre
Address/Location: Mosul, near Tigris river
Subordinate to: Part of State Organization for Technical Industries (SOTI), part of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense
Size: The largest arms project in Iraq; housed at least 78 laboratories
Primary Function: Research on nuclear weapons
Description: The Al-Kindi Research Complex was the largest and most well-hidden arms project in Iraq. It was primarily a missile development factory, but research on nuclear weapons development was conducted there as well. At least 78 laboratories were part of the Saad 16 Complex, including those that conducted work on fuel mixtures testing, electronics workshops and chemical laboratories.[14]
Key Sources:
[13] "Al Kindi Research Complex/Saad 16," Federation of the American Scientists, 9 October 2000, <http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/Iraq/facility/
al_kindi.htm>.
[14] Ibid.; Report on the 18th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/25666, 26 April 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/reports/
s_25666.pdf>.
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Name: Al Qa Qa General Establishment
Other Names: Al Qa Qa State Establishment; al Qa Qaa Government Enterprise; Badr General Establishment
Address/Location: 30-38km south of Baghdad in Yousefiya near Iskandariya and Al Musayyib
Subordinate to: Ministry of Industry and Military Industrialization (MIMI)
Size: A huge facility that contained manufacturing and storage plants
Primary Function: Nuclear weapons implosion package development
Description: The Al Qa Qa State Establishment began supporting the efforts to develop a nuclear weapon implosion package in 1987, the Dhafer Project.[15] Al Qa Qa was responsible for the explosive filling of long-range missile warheads.[16] A special unit at Al Qa Qa helped develop and manufacture high-explosive lenses, propellants, and detonators needed for the implosion device.[17] Iraq used these detonators to develop a 32-point electronic firing system and experimented with high explosives to produce implosive shock waves. The Al Qa Qa team also perfected the design of dedicated exploding bridge wire (EBW) detonators, after experimenting with several types.[18] Al Qa Qa held large stacks of imported HMX and RDX explosives and had its own operating RDX production plant.[19]
Key Sources:
[15] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/
IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
[16] "The Implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolutions Relating to Iraq," Report by the IAEA Director-General, GC(40)/13, 12 August 1996, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/About/GC/GC40/
documents/gc40-13.html>.
[17] IAEA Iraq Action Team, "Fact Sheet: Iraq's Nuclear Weapons Programme," IAEA, 25 April 2002, <http://www.iaea.or/at/worldatom/Programmes/
ActionTeam/nwpz.html>.
[18] "Iraq's Nuclear Weapon Program," Iraq Watch, accessed on 11/27/2002, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/wmd/nuclear.html>.
[19] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the rth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/
s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Al-Shaykili Storage Compound
Other Names: Al-Shakili
Address/Location: Near Al-Tuwaitha Site
Subordinate to: n/a
Size: Composed of 25 warehouses
Primary Function: Storage location for materials from nuclear program.
Description: The Al-Shaykili storage complex is composed of 25 warehouses, which contain various pieces of equipment that served Iraq's nuclear weapons program. Shaykili's Building 13B is the location for graphite, transferred from the Falluja Lead Factory.[20] Additionally, high-temperature laboratory furnaces and centrifuge motor manufacturing equipment is located at Shaykili.[21]
Key Sources:
[20] Report on the 24th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/1994/650, 1 June 1994, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_1994_650.pdf>.
[21] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/
s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Al-Zahf Al-Kabir Metallurgical Facility
Address/Location: Taji
Subordinate to: n/a
Primary Function: Uranium metallurgy, Weaponization
Description: The Al-Zahf Al-Kabir Metallurgical Facility serves as the storage location for the salvaged general equipment from Al-Tuwaitha's Building 64, which was constructed to make feed material for casting the core components of nuclear weapons, but was destroyed by coalition air strikes.[22]
Key Sources:
[22] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
Name: Balat Ash Shuada Factory
Other Names: Al-Rasheed; Mamoun
Address/Location: n/a
Subordinate to: n/a
Primary Function: Weapons equipment manufacturing
Description:
Balat Ash Shuada, a missile factory, was involved in manufacturing cylindrical charges and equipment, normally used for composite propellants in missile engines, that was also useful in the development of lenses using cast composite explosives.[23]
Key Sources:
[23] Report on the 29th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/1996/14, 10 January 1996, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/reports/
s_1996_14.pdf>.
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Name: Building 430
Address/Location: Al-Atheer
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Primary Function: Uranium metal machining; weaponization
Description: Building 430 was designed to hold equipment and facilities for the machining of uranium metal. The building was still under construction by the beginning of 1991.[24]
Key Sources:
[24] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Building 6830
Address/Location: Al-Atheer
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Size: Extremely large building
Primary Function: Uranium metallurgy and fabrication studies
Description: Building 6830 is equipped with a sophisticated air handling system. It is an extremely large building intended for uranium metallurgy and fabrication studies, both for natural and highly enriched uranium. The building was still under construction by the beginning of 1991.[25]
Key Sources:
[25] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Fallujah Lead Recovery Plant
Other Names: Falluja
Address/Location: 30km west of Baghdad
Subordinate to: n/a
Primary Function: Nuclear program materials storage
Description: Fallujah Lead Recovery Plant operates gas-fired furnaces. In March 1993, the IAEA inspectors uncovered a group of crates at Fallujah that contained several tons of precision machined black plates believed to be graphite.[26] Some graphite sheets were transferred to Ash Shakyli for storage. [27] The plates were likely procured for manufacturing ion sources and collectors for the EMIS program.[28]
Key Sources:
[26] Report on the 18th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under
Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/25666, 26 April 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_25666.pdf>.
[27] Report on the 24th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/1994/650, 1 June 1994, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_1994_650.pdf>.
[28] Report on the 18th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under
Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/25666, 26 April 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/reports/
s_25666.pdf>.
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Name: High Explosives Test Bunker
Other Names: Site 100; Building 33[29]
Address/Location: Al-Hatteen
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Primary Function: Explosion testing/weaponization
Description: Hydrodynamic experiments at Al-Atheer were conducted in a heavy-duty high explosives test bunker near the site. The bunker, constructed in early 1989, was suitable for handling experiments involving several hundred kilograms of high explosive.[30]
Key Sources:
[29] IAEA inspections' classification.
[30] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/
IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Internal Explosion Chamber
Other Names: Site 6600
Address/Location: Al Atheer-Al Hatteen
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Primary Function: Explosion testing
Description: The design of the internal explosion chamber included a high integrity containment system to prevent the leakage of radio-toxic materials outside. The chamber was not fully complete by the beginning of 1991.[31]
Key Sources:
[31] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: The Iraqi Factory
Address/Location: Taji, 30km north of Baghdad
Subordinate to: n/a
Primary Function: Engineering center
Description: The Taji location was Iraq's primary missile complex. One of the enterprises at Taji, the Iraqi Factory, housed a new engineering center for the nuclear program.[32]
Key Sources:
[32] "Taji," The Federation of the Atomic Scientists, 9 October 2000, <http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/Iraq/facility/taji_m.html>.
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Name: Khan Dari Warehouse Complex
Address/Location: West of Baghdad; near Abu Ghrayb
Subordinate to: n/a
Primary Function: Receiving site for foreign shipments
Description: The Khan Dari Warehouse Complex was declared by Iraq to have been used by the IAEC (Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission) and other ministries as a receiving point for foreign shipments. The material at the site consisted of large quantities of stainless steel in the form of sheet, bar, tubing, and piping.[33]
Key Sources:
[33] Report on the 18th IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/25666, 26 April 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_25666.pdf>.
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Name: Materials Halls
Address/Location: Buildings 6210 and 6220
Al-Atheer
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Primary Function: Materials
Description: The two most important buildings at Al-Atheer, 6210 and 6220, are the materials halls.[34]
Key Sources:
[34] "Iraqi Nuclear Weapons," CIA Gulflink, 24 April 1996, <http://www.fas.org/irp/gulf/cia/960424/65819_01.htm>.
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Name: Nahrawan Munitions Plant
Address/Location: 20km east of downtown Baghdad
Subordinate to: n/a
Size: A medium- to large-sized facility containing at least 50 CNC machines
Primary Function: Machining tools
Description: The Nahrawan munitions plant houses and operates a foundry, hot forge, machining, and assembling facilities. No explosives were reportedly handled there, only cases and fuses. IAEA weapons inspections have determined that 50 CNC machine tools were shipped to the Nahrawan Munitions Plant in the late 1980s.[35]
Key Sources:
[35] Consolidated Reports on the 20th and the 21st IAEA On-Site Inspections in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/26333, 20 August 1993, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/s_26333.pdf>.
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Name: Powder Metallurgy Building
Address/Location: Al-Atheer
Subordinate to: Al-Atheer
Size: This building contained large machining equipment
Primary Function: Powder metallurgy; weaponization
Description: The powder metallurgy building at Al-Atheer was equipped with large industrial hot and cold isostatic presses and was almost complete at the end of 1990. However, the siting of the presses suggests that the building might not have been intended for use with high explosives.[36]
Key Sources:
[36] "The Components of Iraq's clandestine nuclear programme," Attachment 1 to the Fourth Consolidated Report of the Director General of the IAEA, UN Doc S/1997/779, 8 October 1997, Iraq Watch, <http://www.iraqwatch.org/un/IAEA/s-1997-779-att-1.htm>.
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Name: Pure Lead Project
Other Names:
Address/Location: Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center
Subordinate to: Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center
Primary Function: Weaponization
Description: The Pure Lead Project at Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center was involved in the development of shielding for Iraq's nuclear weapons program.[37]
Key Sources:
[37] "INC Lists Iraqi Nuclear, BW, CW Facilities," FBIS Document, FBIS-TAC-97-334, 30 November 1991, in "Iraqi Nuclear Abstracts: 1997, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute, <http://cns.miis.edu/research/iraq/
iraqnu97.htm>.
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Name: Uranium metallurgy facilities
Address/Location: Buildings 10 and 15
Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center
Subordinate to: Al-Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Center
Primary Function: Uranium metallurgy, weaponization
Description: Iraq conducted various activities related to uranium metallurgy in Tuwaitha's Buildings 10 and 15. Work included uranium metal reduction and metal casting and machining.[38] These were declared by Iraq to be part of the conventional armor penetrating weapon program. However, the experience gained from such a program could be used for designing nuclear weapons.[39]
IAEA inspections also revealed special equipment essential for a nuclear weapons program, specifically for warhead development and assembly as distinct from nuclear material production.[40]
Iraq also admitted to producing polonium-210 isotopes. This isotope, used for steady-state neutron sources, could also be used in the initiator for a nuclear weapon.[41]
Key Sources:
[38] Report on the Seventh IAEA On-Site Inspection in Iraq under Security Council Resolution 687, UN Doc S/23215, 14 November 1991, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Programmes/ActionTeam/
reports/S_23215.pdf>.
[39] Richard Kokoski, Technology and the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (SIPRI, 1995), p. 121.
[40] "Nuclear Capabilities of Iraq—the IAEA Plan of Action," IAEA, April 1992, <http://www.iaea.or.at/worldatom/Press/Booklets/Iraq/
iaeaplan.html>.
[41] Mark Hibbs, "Iraq tried to import Interatom lab for tests of centrifuge rotors," Nuclear Fuel, Vol. 16, No. 19, 16 September 1991.
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Updated December 2003 |
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