got
fired from the Ministry of Defense for that paper."
"Wrong both times. He went on to say, 'We must inflict, or have the power
to inflict, permanent and crippling damage to
40
TRIPLE
the next Arab army that crosses our borders. We must have nuclear
weapons.9 Is
Dickstein was very still for a moment; then he let out his breath in a
long whistle. It was one of those devastating ideas that seems completely
obvious as soon as it has been sai(L It would change everything. He was
silent for a while, digesting the implications. His mind teemed with
questions. Was it technically feasible? Would the Americans help? Would
the Israeli Cabinet approve it? Would the Arabs retaliate with their own
bomb? What he said was, "Bright boy in the Ministry, hell. That was Moshe
Dayan's paper."
"No comment," said Borg.
Did the Cabinet adopt it?-
'There has been a long debate, Certain elder statesmen argued that they
had not come this far to see the Middle East wiped out in a nuclear
holocaust. But the opposition faction relied mainly on the argument that
if we have a bomb, the Arabs will get one too, and we will be back at
square one. As it UnWA out, that was their big mistake." Borg reached
into his pocket and took out a small plastic box. He handed it to
Dickstein.
Dickstein switched on the interior light and examined the box. It was
about an inch and a half square, thin, and blue in color. It opened to
reveal a small envelope made of heavy light-proof paper. "What!s this?"
he -said.
Borg said, "A physicist named Friedrich Schulz visited Cairo in February.
He is Austrian but he works in the United States. He was apparently on
holiday in Europe, but his plane ticket to Egypt was paid for by the
Egyptian government.
"I had him followed, but he gave our boy the slip and disappeared into
the Western Desert for forty-eight hours. We know from CIA satellite
pictures that there is a major construction Project going on in that part
of the desert. When Schulz came back, he had that in his pocket It's a
personnel dosimeter. The envelope, which is light-tight, contains a piece
of ordinary Photographic film. You carry the box in your pocket, or
pinned to your lapel or trouser belt. If you!re exposed to radiation, the
film will -show fogging when irs d&veloped. Dosimeters are carried, as
a matter of routine, by everyone who visits or works in a nuclear power
station."
Dickstein switched off the light and gave the box back to
41
Ken Falloff
Borg. "You're telling me the Arabs are already making atom bombs," he said
softly.
"That's right." Borg spoke unnecessarily loudly.
"So the Cabinet gave Dayan the go-ahead to make a bomb of his own."
"In principle, yes."
"How so?"
"Mere are some practical difficulties. The mechanics of the business are
simple-the actual clockwork of the bomb, so. to speak. Anyone who can make
a conventional bomb can make a nuclear bomb. Ile problem is getting hold of
the explosive material, plutonium. You get plutonium out of an atomic
reactor. It's a by-product. Now, we have a reactor, at Dimona in the Negev
Desert. Did you know thair,
"Yes."
"It's our worst-kept secret. However, we don't have the equipment for
extracting the plutonium from the spent fuel. We could build a reprocessing
plant, but the problem is that we have no uranium of our own to put through
the reactor."
"Wait a minute." Dickstein frowned. "We must have uranium, to fuel the
reactor for normal use."
"correct. We get it from France, and it's supplied to us on condition we
return the spent fuel to them for reprocessing, so they get the plutonium."
"Other suppliers?"
"Would impose the same condition-it's part of all the nuclear
non-proliferation treaties."
Dickstein said, "But the people at Dimona could siphon off some of the
spent fuel without anyone noticing."
"No. Given the quantity of uranium originally supplied, it's possible to
calculate precisely how much plutonium comes out the other end. And
fired from the Ministry of Defense for that paper."
"Wrong both times. He went on to say, 'We must inflict, or have the power
to inflict, permanent and crippling damage to
40
TRIPLE
the next Arab army that crosses our borders. We must have nuclear
weapons.9 Is
Dickstein was very still for a moment; then he let out his breath in a
long whistle. It was one of those devastating ideas that seems completely
obvious as soon as it has been sai(L It would change everything. He was
silent for a while, digesting the implications. His mind teemed with
questions. Was it technically feasible? Would the Americans help? Would
the Israeli Cabinet approve it? Would the Arabs retaliate with their own
bomb? What he said was, "Bright boy in the Ministry, hell. That was Moshe
Dayan's paper."
"No comment," said Borg.
Did the Cabinet adopt it?-
'There has been a long debate, Certain elder statesmen argued that they
had not come this far to see the Middle East wiped out in a nuclear
holocaust. But the opposition faction relied mainly on the argument that
if we have a bomb, the Arabs will get one too, and we will be back at
square one. As it UnWA out, that was their big mistake." Borg reached
into his pocket and took out a small plastic box. He handed it to
Dickstein.
Dickstein switched on the interior light and examined the box. It was
about an inch and a half square, thin, and blue in color. It opened to
reveal a small envelope made of heavy light-proof paper. "What!s this?"
he -said.
Borg said, "A physicist named Friedrich Schulz visited Cairo in February.
He is Austrian but he works in the United States. He was apparently on
holiday in Europe, but his plane ticket to Egypt was paid for by the
Egyptian government.
"I had him followed, but he gave our boy the slip and disappeared into
the Western Desert for forty-eight hours. We know from CIA satellite
pictures that there is a major construction Project going on in that part
of the desert. When Schulz came back, he had that in his pocket It's a
personnel dosimeter. The envelope, which is light-tight, contains a piece
of ordinary Photographic film. You carry the box in your pocket, or
pinned to your lapel or trouser belt. If you!re exposed to radiation, the
film will -show fogging when irs d&veloped. Dosimeters are carried, as
a matter of routine, by everyone who visits or works in a nuclear power
station."
Dickstein switched off the light and gave the box back to
41
Ken Falloff
Borg. "You're telling me the Arabs are already making atom bombs," he said
softly.
"That's right." Borg spoke unnecessarily loudly.
"So the Cabinet gave Dayan the go-ahead to make a bomb of his own."
"In principle, yes."
"How so?"
"Mere are some practical difficulties. The mechanics of the business are
simple-the actual clockwork of the bomb, so. to speak. Anyone who can make
a conventional bomb can make a nuclear bomb. Ile problem is getting hold of
the explosive material, plutonium. You get plutonium out of an atomic
reactor. It's a by-product. Now, we have a reactor, at Dimona in the Negev
Desert. Did you know thair,
"Yes."
"It's our worst-kept secret. However, we don't have the equipment for
extracting the plutonium from the spent fuel. We could build a reprocessing
plant, but the problem is that we have no uranium of our own to put through
the reactor."
"Wait a minute." Dickstein frowned. "We must have uranium, to fuel the
reactor for normal use."
"correct. We get it from France, and it's supplied to us on condition we
return the spent fuel to them for reprocessing, so they get the plutonium."
"Other suppliers?"
"Would impose the same condition-it's part of all the nuclear
non-proliferation treaties."
Dickstein said, "But the people at Dimona could siphon off some of the
spent fuel without anyone noticing."
"No. Given the quantity of uranium originally supplied, it's possible to
calculate precisely how much plutonium comes out the other end. And
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