Iran: How the Civil Engineers won the argument

Article from Popular Mechanics

For those who have been following closely, the Civil Nuclear Engineers (my profession) were the most skeptical of the USA government’s claim that they destroyed Iran’s underground facilities. That is because we design nuclear structures to withstand aircraft crashes, bombs, internal explosions and a range of other external agressions. I have spent the last 10 years designing nuclear structures against these type of actions and all I can say is that Reinforced Concrete, and prestress-concrete in particular, is one of the most underappreciated wonders of the industrial age.

There is an old saying that “civil engineers create targets, and mechanical engineers create weapons”.

The target was simply too strong.

According to the Popular Mechanics report, history suggests Iran's underground nuclear facilities could be partially or wholly intact, "because up until now, in the quiet arms race between concrete and bombs, the concrete has been winning."

https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/us/us-unleashes-30000-pound-bunker-busters-on-iran-but-scientists-say-tehrans-concrete-may-have-won-the-day-us-iran-strike-news-bunker-buster-news/articleshow/122069535.cms