a Twitter thread from @jongambrellAP

1.

An @AP story I’ve been working on based on @planetlabs images: A secretive #Israel nuclear facility at #Dimona is undergoing its biggest construction project in decades. https://apnews.com/article/ecd8b6f3ffb329aa1fc566b9f9336038

2.

"A dig about the size of a soccer field and likely several stories deep now sits just meters from the aging reactor at the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near the city of Dimona." - @AP

3.

"The facility is already home to decades-old underground laboratories that reprocess the reactor's spent rods to obtain weapons-grade plutonium for Israel's nuclear bomb program." -@AP

4.

"What the construction is for, however, remains unclear. The Israeli government did not respond to detailed questions from the @AP about the work."

5.

"The construction comes as Israel ... maintains its scathing criticism of Iran's nuclear program, which remains under the watch of United Nations inspectors unlike its own. That has renewed calls among experts for Israel to publicly declare details of its program."

6.

"The center’s heavy-water reactor has been operational since the 1960s, far longer than most reactors of the same era. That raises both effectiveness and safety questions. ... Safety concerns could see authorities decommission or otherwise retrofit the reactor, analysts say."

7.

Again, here's the link to the story: https://apnews.com/article/dubai-iran-nuclear-weapons-programs-middle-east-united-arab-emirates-ecd8b6f3ffb329aa1fc566b9f9336038

8.

(These images from @planetlabs of the #Dimona nuclear site in #Israel were at 0.5 meters a pixel.)

9.

دبي، الإمارات العربية المتحدة (أ ب)- تشهد منشأة نووية إسرائيلية سرية في قلب برنامج الأسلحة النووية غير المعلن في البلاد ما يبدو أنه أكبر مشروع إنشائي لها منذ عقود، بحسب صور الأقمار الصناعية التي حللتها وكالة أسوشيتد برس

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