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According to an article in Sunday's edition of Rio's daily Jornal do Brasil, Brazil has the necessary knowledge to build an atomic bomb . The statement is based on a doctoral thesis presented recently at the Military Institute of Engineering IME.
There has been no official comment on the news but the United Nations International Atomic Energy, IAEA, has expressed an interest in the publication, according to the Brazilian press.
In the thesis "Numerical simulation of thermonuclear detonations in fusion-fission hybrid environments operated with radiation", physicist Dalton Ellery Girão Barroso interprets physics and mathematical models of the W-87 warhead developed by the United States.
"You don't need to make the bomb," says Barroso. "You just have to show that you know how to do it."
Part of the thesis was recently published in Brazil in a book with several contributions, "Physics of nuclear explosions", although the hard core of the academic work remains in the dark well protected by IME, according to Jornal do Brasil.
A Brazilian Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted by Agence France Presse said that there was "no secret" around this thesis, as it has "apparently already been published in a book". But Brazil is a signatory to the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty and it respects the agreement," he said
According to Jornal do Brasil, the publication of the book last April triggered the interest of the IAEA, which allegedly requested additional information about the book to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense
Apparently IAEA concluded that the models described in the academic thesis and the book could have been practiced in a lab and this would support suspicions that Brazil has been advancing investigations on how to build a nuclear bomb.
In July 2007, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced the revival of the nuclear program in Brazil, with the completion of its first submarine nuclear propulsion and recovery, after 20 years of interruption, the construction of its third plant.
However, last week in a long interview with France Press, President Lula da Silva recalled that Brazil "is the only country in the world which specifically bans nuclear weapons in its Constitution, so it's not the will of the president, it's in the Constitution."
This Monday, September 7, Brazil's Independence Day, Lula hosted his French counterpart, Nicholas Sarkozy and signed a US$ 9 billion military cooperation agreement with Paris that includes among other things, Brazil's first nuclear submersible and four conventional ones.
Mercopress
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Bearing in mind that within the next 20 or 30 years, the world is likely to face immense shortages of OIL and FRESH WATER, nations like Brazil (with enormous reserves of BOTH dwindling resources) are BOUND to become the target of powerful nations facing the pressure of desperate populations...
Since our planet is likely to face a potential chaotic situation, likely to escalate into a global conflict, I strongly suggest that the Brazilian government seriously consider initiating at least a Project. In addition, because of regional considerations (political & military), such "project" should be conducted in full partnership with Argentina.
Given the fact that NEITHER nation has signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, Brazil and Argentina could NEITHER be accused of any breach of international commitments, NOR be required to accept inspectors from any international agency.
Consequently the security of our nation in the near future may unfortunately require this quintessential project!