Only a few countries in the world have nuclear weapons. In Ukraine, there seem to be thoughts about the possibility of building a nuclear bomb.
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According to a report, Ukraine could build an atomic bomb within months. This option could be considered if the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, decides to reduce financial aidaccording to an information document intended for the Ministry of Defense and cited by the British newspaper The Times.
The potential bomb could be built using technology similar to that of “Fat Man,” the plutonium bomb dropped by the United States on Nagasaki in 1945. Building such a rudimentary bomb with plutonium would no longer be a difficult task in 80 years later, according to the report.
Ukraine could extract plutonium from spent fuel from its nuclear reactors. Currently, the country controls nine reactors. The report indicates that Ukraine thus has seven tonnes of reactor plutonium:
“This quantity of material is sufficient to produce hundreds of warheads with a tactical power of several kilotons”
These warheads could destroy an entire Russian air base or several military, industrial or logistical infrastructures, explains the author of the report, Oleksii Yizhak, cited by The Times. The document was published by the Center for Military, Conversion and Disarmament Studies, an influential think tank specializing in military issues in Ukraine.
According to The Timesthe report has already been presented to the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense. It is to be discussed soon at a conference in which Ukrainian ministers of Defense and Strategic Industries will likely participate.
Experts are skeptical
The director of the institute, Valentyn Badrak, claims that Ukraine could produce atomic bombs in less than a year, having the necessary technical knowledge. However, Western experts estimate that such a project would take at least five years.
For its part, the Ukrainian government categorically denies these plans.
“We do not possess nuclear weapons, we are not developing them and we do not intend to build them”
Heorhiy Tykhy, spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense
(Translated from German by Tim Boekholt)
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