“Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it plans to install more than 6,000 centrifuges (up to 10,000 available) to enrich uranium at its plants and to put more installed into operation.”, — write: epravda.com.ua
Iran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it plans to install more than 6,000 centrifuges (up to 10,000 available) to enrich uranium at its plants and put more installed into operation. This is stated in a confidential report of the agency, which was received by the agency on Thursday Reuters.An IAEA report provided to Reuters clarifies what Iran meant when it said it was adding thousands of centrifuges in response to a resolution passed last week by the 35-nation Governing Council at the request of Britain, France, Germany and the United States. The expansion of enrichment capacity means Iran will be able to enrich uranium more quickly, potentially raising the risk of nuclear proliferation.Advertisement: Iran denies any intention to develop nuclear weapons, but Western states claim that there is no civilian explanation for enriching uranium to the level of 60% purity or to the 90% level necessary to create a nuclear weapons No other country has enriched uranium to this level without building a nuclear bomb. Advertisement: For the new centrifuges, Iran has only specified an enrichment level of 5%, well below the 60% it already produces. Lowering the purity level, especially at the Fordow plant, could be considered as a conciliatory move by Iran to find a common language with European powers before the return to power of US President-elect Donald Trump. However, the level of enrichment can be easily changed later. Iran already has more than 10,000 active centrifuges at two underground plants in Natang and Fordo, as well as an above-ground pilot plant in Natang. The report calls for the installation of 32 more cascades (clusters) with more than 160 machines each and one a large cascade with up to 1,152 modern IR-6 centrifuges. At the same time, the number of cascades that Iran plans to install significantly exceeds those that already exist. Iran has also said it plans to connect them using its uranium stockpile, but the IAEA has confirmed that this has not yet happened.” The agency has identified and notified Iran of changes needed to intensify inspection activities at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility (FFEP) after commissioning cascades,” the report says. Fordo is under special control because it is located in a mountain, and it is there that Iran enriches uranium to 60%. Another plant where this is happening is the land-based fuel enrichment pilot plant in Natang.
