JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s civilian nuclear reactor will be phased out in the coming years, Reuters reported, citing Israeli officials.
The reactor at Soreq, located near Tel Aviv, has been inspected by international nuclear inspectors. The reactor began operations in 1960 with uranium fuel from the United States.
The reactor will be replaced in 2017 or 2018 by a particle accelerator being built nearby, according to the report.
An undisclosed reactor in Dimona in Israel’s South is believed to have produced nuclear weapons. Israel is not a signatory to the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Israel is believed to be the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, although as part of a deterrence policy it has not said so outright.
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