Iran nuclear program advancing, U.N. agency says - Los Angeles Times
source: http://shar.es/W24v
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"Iran's nuclear program comes across to me as if Iran has its head down and burrowing forward," said Jacqueline Shire, an arms control expert at the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank. "It's not stopping. It's not looking up. It's not taking the temperature of the political situation. They're just bearing ahead."
The dryly worded reports, delivered to the governing board of the agency and obtained by The Times, say Iran has increased its supply of low-enriched uranium during the last three months by 30%, to nearly 3,000 pounds, and is now feeding uranium gas into about 5,000 high-speed centrifuges, up 25% since February, the time of the last report. It also has an additional 2,000 centrifuges spinning in preparation for being fed uranium gas to turn into nuclear material.
Scientists say 3,000 pounds of low-enriched, or reactor-grade, uranium of the type Iran has would be more than enough to build a single nuclear weapon if Iran were to boot out international inspectors, renege on treaty obligations and further refine its supplies.
Shire estimates that Iran is producing about 6 pounds of low-enriched uranium a day.
The U.N. Security Council has passed several resolutions calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium. Friday's report says the agency has made no progress in resolving questions raised by Western intelligence agencies about alleged tests and studies that suggested Iran was explicitly pursuing nuclear weapons until 2003. Iran insists that the evidence, which it has not been allowed to see, is forged.
The agency report also says that Iran continues to deny it access to the heavy-water reactor near the west-central city of Arak and has not yet provided it with design information for a planned nuclear power plant near the southwestern Iranian town of Darkhovin. Iran says that under its treaty obligations, it need not provide such information until just before it introduces nuclear material to a site.
The dryly worded reports, delivered to the governing board of the agency and obtained by The Times, say Iran has increased its supply of low-enriched uranium during the last three months by 30%, to nearly 3,000 pounds, and is now feeding uranium gas into about 5,000 high-speed centrifuges, up 25% since February, the time of the last report. It also has an additional 2,000 centrifuges spinning in preparation for being fed uranium gas to turn into nuclear material.
Scientists say 3,000 pounds of low-enriched, or reactor-grade, uranium of the type Iran has would be more than enough to build a single nuclear weapon if Iran were to boot out international inspectors, renege on treaty obligations and further refine its supplies.
Shire estimates that Iran is producing about 6 pounds of low-enriched uranium a day.
The U.N. Security Council has passed several resolutions calling on Iran to stop enriching uranium. Friday's report says the agency has made no progress in resolving questions raised by Western intelligence agencies about alleged tests and studies that suggested Iran was explicitly pursuing nuclear weapons until 2003. Iran insists that the evidence, which it has not been allowed to see, is forged.
The agency report also says that Iran continues to deny it access to the heavy-water reactor near the west-central city of Arak and has not yet provided it with design information for a planned nuclear power plant near the southwestern Iranian town of Darkhovin. Iran says that under its treaty obligations, it need not provide such information until just before it introduces nuclear material to a site.
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- tags:
- Israel, Iran, United Nations, mideast
