While the mass media in the United States and other countries have been emphasizing CIA reports of Israel’s alleged atomic bomb capacity, an appraisal of the world’s energy shows Israel absent from nations posses sing sizeable nuclear power plants but it is identified as extensively and successfully engaged in producing solar energy equipment to help advance living conditions.
A CIA spokesman recently said Israel had 10-20 atomic bombs and Time magazine declared it has learned Israel has 13 of them and almost put them to use in the Yom Kippur War.
Tetra Tech Inc., in its “Energy Fact Book for 1976” has published the world list of nuclear power plants operable, under construction, or on order in the capacity of 30-megawatts of electricity and named 32 countries having them. Israel, which has a nuclear plant in Dimona, is not among them.
The Israel Embassy’s scientific counsellor. Eliezer Ekrit, confirmed that the Dimona plant is not within the capacity of plants in the listed countries that include Austria, Belgium. Bulgaria, Canada, Finland, Korea. Taiwan, Hungary and Luxembourg.
Tetra Tech, whose corporate headquarters are in Pasadena, Calif., recently issued its energy fact book which it said “provides an appraisal of the world’s supply of and demands for familiar fossil fuels and an overview of alternative sources of fossil energy.” A copy of the book was obtained here by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
TRADITION OF SOLAR RESEARCH
In its section on solar power, the fact book cited Israel’s long tradition of research, development and application of solar power and making available cheap energy sources derived from oil and gas. The practical results of this have been the invention of solar heaters, cookers, refrigerators and ponds.
An “outstanding Israeli solar development,” the fact book reported, is an organic turbine which was designed to operate at relatively low temper- atures that could be obtained from solar collectors and requires virtually zero maintenance. “This turbine is now in production and sold all over the world but no one employs solar power to operate it. “the fact book stated. “Its fuel fired version, however, is in great demand.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
