Things are heating up in the Donbass

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the reaction would the same as it for a tomahawk launch, they would assume the missile is nuclear and respond while its still in the air , there is no way to know if its a nuke or not. thats thier present doctrine on certain weapon systems, which is why Ukraine doesn't have tomahawks or other nuclear capable systems

That's obviously false.

The list of "nuclear capable" weapons systems is huge. They may not be officially certified, but Ukraine DGAF about what's certified.

We had nuclear artillery at one point.

You can drop a B61 from nearly anything that flys. You could strap one to a Cessna in about 20 mins if you wanted.

That doctrine really only applies to ICBMs and SLBMs. And even then, a lone launch isn't going to be responded to with a full nuclear response.

 

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I dont doubt thier ability and know how, Im just saying they are in the middle of a serious war, they lack the cash and if Russia gets wind of it they are going to make a special project out it . If the russians blew the lab up after spending all that money its going to be a real kick in the shorts, I dont think they would risk it myself. Not impossible, but under the present conditions unlikely.

They already *have* the expensive infrastructure. It's not a cash issue for them.

And they wouldn't need to let a lot of people in on the plan until they were ready to conduct the final testing.

A few people who run the reactor would need to know, and some more high level scientists. But the plutonium route *once you have the reactor* is no where near as industry intensive as a uranium route.

Ukraine already has multiple suitable research reactors.