It _is_ rocket science.

I know various people on these boards have brought up the nuclear capabilities of iran in recent times. They're building nuclear weapons, supposedly.

What most people apparently do not realize is that building a nuclear bomb is highschool physics. Literally. I had textbooks in highschool that showed various different types of nuclear bomb designs, and I could whip up a successful design reasonably fast.

What most people do not realize is that building a nuclear bomb isn't the hard part. Even having the materials is not the hard part.

The hard part is getting that bomb to where you want it to go.

Quite literally, rocket science. Targeting, delivery. Sneaking a rocket or a plane through international airspace in order to drop a bomb on the US and being able to have it land where you wanted is not easy.

The chief difficulties in nuclear bombs, therefore, are not building the bombs themselves, per se, they are obtaining the nuclear material, and then getting the bomb to some place other than your own back yard.

Just thought it was a point worth mentioning in the current climate.

Shoot, rocketry ain't that tough. It would be a piece of cake for Iran to hit Tel Aviv.

Physically building a bomb, for the scientists isnt such a hard task, your right.

Obtaining enough enriched uranium, is the long, drawn out part.

Look up how long and how expensive it was for the US in 1940's to obtain enough uranium/plutonium for Fatman and littleboy.

Then imagine a country like Iran obtaining it.




[edit on 30-3-2007 by Kristol n Stauss]

Really? Because looking at a map, ya know, I wouldn't think that firing a rocket over the entire country of Iraq (occupied iraq no less) would be all that easy..

but then that's just my opinion.

Im sure they can do it, quiet easily.

But in order to have the materials to make a fully functioning nuclear weapon, there's a lot of work involved in generating enriched uranium.