The Admiral continued "Three months later, Wolf and Colonel Wolfgang Becker, the head of the atomic weapons section of the HVA's Sector for Science and Technology (
Sektor Wissenschaft und Technik) delivered their findings to Honecker. The summary of the report is in the file. They first discussed the West German capability to produce atomic arms. Becker found that on a pure technical level, the Federal Republic could likely produce an atomic weapon. By mid 1971, West Germany had amassed a significant amount of civilian nuclear technology, and had been operating nuclear reactors for some time. Facilities such as the Obrigheim reactor complex could serve as the key building blocks towards an atomic weapons program. However, Wolf also stated that it would be almost technically impossible for the West Germans to build the infrastructure necessary to either enrich uranium or to reprocess plutonium into weapons grade material without it being noticed by Washington and London. He added
that it would
certainly be impossible to hide such a program from the DDR's intelligence apparatus."
Kahl Nuclear Reactor, West Germany
Chancellor said "...and that doesn't even broach the massive shitstorm of
domestic political consequences such a program would have brought upon any government went down that road. NATO's dual key system was plenty good enough for the Brandt government in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Okay, what did they report about how Israel had gotten their bomb?"
"Becker then stated that yes, Israel had indeed managed to obtain nuclear weapons. The big difference between Israel and a theoretical West German program was that the Israelis had gotten a lot of help. For example, the French had supplied the nuclear reactors at Dimona, the British special chemicals for reprocessing as well as fissile samples and heavy water, yellowcake uranium came from Argentina. The French were probably selling uranium to the Israelis as late as 1965. A large section of the West, particularly the French governments of the era, felt that Israel should get the bomb to prevent another Holocaust. President Kennedy tried to intervene in 1963, but by then the cake was baked. In other words, the West more or less either openly aided or turned a blind eye to Israel's ambitions. That's the direct opposite about how they would feel about a West German program."
Dimona Nuclear Reactor Complex
"Okay, Admiral. I think I knew most of that. But I'm sensing that's not the end of the report, is it?"
"No, and here's where our story gets interesting. The Israelis obviously eventually built the infrastructure to be able to manufacture atomic weapons on their own. At the same time, they apparently took a massive shortcut to build their very first nuclear devices. The hardest part of any nuclear weapons program is obtaining a sufficient amount of fissile material to build a bomb. As Wolf said: "Comrade General Secretary, it's much easier to build a nuclear bomb if you cheat and skip this step, especially for an advanced nation state." The Israelis probably put together their first two devices by outright stealing at least 200 pounds of highly enriched uranium from a facility in Pennsylvania. Becker explained that the actual bombs themselves, although quite sophisticated, are much easier and less costly to build than the infrastructure necessary for obtaining fissile material."
"I think I might see where this is going, but what happened next?"
"Honecker asked Wolf and Becker if the West Germans could secretly build a bomb if they were to obtain the necessary fissile material, by say, stealing a nuclear warhead from a NATO stockpile. The answer was that it was probably difficult but possible that the West Germans could do so in secret on a very limited basis from the rest of NATO. Wolf added that he was doubtful that they could conduct such a project without the HVA knowing what was going on. After adding some qualifiers as to the insanity of such an act, Becker was dismissed. Honecker had another fact finding request for Wolf. I'll quote Wolf again: "Just how secure are NATO's nuclear materials and nuclear warheads in Western Europe, as compared to what was known about the same facilities and depots operated by our fraternal Soviet socialist brothers?"