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Source: https://jcfa.org/why-irans-uranium-should-be-left-buried-underground/
Why Iran's Uranium Should Be Left Buried Underground
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Oded Ailam - What happens to the hundreds of kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% buried under hundreds of tons of reinforced concrete and granite rock in Iran? Extracting enriched uranium is an engineering, logistical, and chemical nightmare. Following the massive strikes of 2025 and 2026, the nuclear facilities in Isfahan are concrete tombs. The uranium is stored dozens of meters underground in areas designed to survive bunker-busting bombs. When the ceiling collapses, it does not leave a convenient corridor for fighters. It creates a tangled mass of reinforced concrete fragments and steel that requires heavy excavation equipment. To reach the uranium, forces would need a convoy of hydraulic excavators, diamond drills, and engineering teams working for weeks. An operation like this in the middle of hostile territory is tactically impossible. Every minute of crane work would be a flashing red signal to intelligence satellites, including Chinese and Russian ones. Iranian uranium is usually stored as gas (UF6) inside massive, heavy cylinders. Each standard B30 cylinder together with the required "Overpack," the protective casing designed to prevent leakage and radiation exposure, weighs between five and ten tons. These containers cannot be lifted by a standard assault helicopter. Extremely heavy transport helicopters would be required. If the cylinder has been damaged, even a few minutes of exposure without heavy shielding would be a death sentence. If the structure has been compromised, the air would be filled with radioactive particles and corrosive gases. Forces would need to wear sealed and cumbersome protective suits. If the uranium cannot be removed, there is a way to neutralize it. Teams could conduct precise deep drilling. Through these boreholes, substances such as boron or gadolinium could be injected directly into the storage cavities. These materials are neutron absorbers and act as poison for a nuclear reaction. Once the enriched uranium physically mixes with these substances, it becomes useless as a weapon. Right now, the uranium is not a ticking bomb. It is more like an expensive grand piano buried on level minus four of a collapsed building. It may be a strategic asset, but no one will be playing it anytime soon. The writer, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, is a researcher at the Jerusalem Center.