Iraq's Secret Nuclear Weapons Program

The inspections of Iraq mandated by the United Nations as a cease-fire condition at the end of the Gulf War in February 1991 have revealed a clandestine nuclear materials production and weapons design program of unexpected size and sophistication. The total value of that program, in terms of equipment and personnel deployed between 1981 and 1991, may be on the order of $5-10 billion. The program employed an estimated 7000 scientists and 20 000 workers. UN inspectors discovered on electromagnetic isotope separation factory that put Iraq just 18-30 months away from having enough material for a bomb. They also found European centrifuge technology and plans for an implosion device.