Israel may not be able to destroy underground nuclear facilities, but it can knock them out ~ Elder Of Ziyon

Sunday, June 15, 2025

Israel may not be able to destroy underground nuclear facilities, but it can knock them out

The difficulty of Israel destroying the underground Iranian nuclear facilities in Fordow and Natanz is well known.

But perhaps for the purposes of the war, complete destruction is not necessary.

Every underground enrichment facility requires ventilation, both for workers to breathe and to air-condition the sensitive centrifuges. Ventilation must have access to outside air.

The ventilation shafts might be hidden and difficult to find, but by now Israel probably knows exactly where they are. If they are heavily damaged, it would take months to repair, and no enrichment can take place until they are fixed.

But Israel has total air dominance over Iranian airspace. Which means that the facilities can be monitored, and any repair equipment could be bombed relatively easily. The idea of Iran digging a new secret ventilation shaft seems highly unlikely while Israeli planes and satellites are monitoring the facilities.

So in theory, Israel can keep these facilities inactive for a very long time - perhaps until regime change.

It might not be as good as a 30,000 lb. GBU-57A/B MOP, but the effect can be almost as good, at least for a significant amount of time.