Two Uranium Deposits Discovered in Israel

A seven-year search for radioactive uranium has paid off with the discovery of two sites containing commercial quantities of the crucial element for making nuclear weapons, officials said Saturday.

There was no immediate indication whether the discovery could make Israel self-sufficient in the mining of nuclear fuel. There have been reports that Israel obtains uranium from South Africa.

Only one of the nation’s two major nuclear centers--a small research reactor at Nahal Soreq south of Tel Aviv--is open for international inspection. The other, at Dimona in the Negev desert, is a top-secret installation where work is conducted on the nation’s military nuclear program.