ISRAEL and South Africa carried out a nuclear test on an offshore platform in the northern Antarctic in 1979, according to a newly disclosed US document, Yediot Aharonot newspaper said.The document, released at the request of the security studies centre at Georgetown University in Washington, says a mystery explosion detected on September 22, 1979 by a US satellite was a nuclear test.
Prepared for the White House in December 1979, it said Israel and South Africa, then under apartheid rule, were cooperating on military issues, including nuclear research.
US intelligence services reported in 1990 that South Africa was producing nuclear weapons, while Israel is estimated to possess 200 nuclear warheads, although it has never confirmed or denied holding such weapons. South Africa later dismantled its nuclear weapons program under UN supervision.
Some confirmation of long-held suspicions. However, at the time it was suggested that Argentina was involved with the other two in the test. South Africa's peaceful use continued, and along with Japan, they are known to produce small reactors of great utility, both today and in the future.