Israel Matzav: Iran's nuclear bomb testing facility

Iran's nuclear bomb testing facility

This is from an article about an atomic bomb testing facility that has been set up on the Iran-Turkmenistan border to detect any attempt by Iran to test a nuclear weapon.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization built seismic station PS44 near Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, a “few kilometers” from the Central Asian country’s southern border with Iran, the Vienna-based group said yesterday in a statement on its Web site. The site adds to the group’s 337 stations worldwide designed to detect seismic activity and atmospheric radiation caused by nuclear explosions.

UN inspectors received intelligence material that included Iranian designs for a 400-meter (1,312-foot) deep shaft that could be used for testing a nuclear bomb, the world body’s International Atomic Energy Agency said in May 2008. The documents also showed plans for a control station 10 kilometers from the unidentified blast site, along with diagnostic equipment to monitor an explosion.

I don't recall seeing that report about the 400-meter deep shaft. There aren't many 'civilian' uses for that, are there?

Israel Matzav: Iran's nuclear bomb testing facility