Iran steps up uranium programme
Iran today announced a massive increase in its capacity to produce enriched uranium that can be used in nuclear weapons.
It is installing 6,000 new centrifuges at its plant in Natanz, double the present capacity.
America immediately criticised the announcement as an example of Iran’s continued defiance of international demands that it suspend uranium enrichment.
Iran already has about 3,000 centrifuges operating in Natanz, and the UN has passed three sets of sanctions against it for its refusal to suspend operations there.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is focused on the peaceful production of energy, not the development of weapons as claimed by the US and many of its allies.
“Iran’s announcement today adds to the deep level of uncertainty and distrust of Iran’s intentions,” said one British diplomat, who asked not to be named.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely expected to confirm soon that Iran has installed hundreds of more sophisticated centrifuges that can enrich uranium faster.
The workhorse of Iran’s enrichment program is the P-1 centrifuge, which is run in cascades of 164 machines. But Iranian officials confirmed in February that they had started using the IR-2 centrifuge that can churn out enriched uranium at more than double the rate.
Diplomats linked to the International Atomic Energy Authority say Iran has assembled hundreds of advanced centrifuges at Natanz.
One said more than 300 of the centrifuges have been linked up in two separate units in Iran’s underground enrichment plant and a third was being assembled.
But a senior diplomat said that while the new work appeared to include advanced centrifuges, they were not IR-2s. He added that it was unclear whether the machines were above or under the surface.
A total of 3,000 centrifuges is the commonly accepted figure for a nuclear enrichment program that is past the experimental stage and can be used as a platform for a full industrial-scale program that could churn out enough enriched material for dozens of nuclear weapons.
Iran says it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that ultimately will involve 54,000 centrifuges.
