Tehran’s 2015 agreement with world powers arranged to make Fordow a R&D facility and ban centrifuges there for non-nuclear use. Enrichment of uranium up to 20 percent has been started at the Fordow nuclear plant using centrifuges.
Tehran agencies. Iran announced on Sunday that it has started enriching uranium to 20 percent using state-of-the-art centrifuges at its underground Fordo nuclear plant. Tehran has taken a technological step towards 90 percent grade level of nuclear weapons. His move is provocative amid the deadlock over the nuclear deal with the West. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Saturday that uranium was enriched to 20 percent for the first time in an upgraded IR-6 centrifuge. He said Iran had notified the UN nuclear watchdog two weeks ago. Centrifuges are used to purify enriched uranium to high levels. Tehran’s 2015 agreement with world powers arranged to make Fordow a R&D facility and ban centrifuges there for non-nuclear use. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported last month that Iran has 43 kg of enriched uranium of 60 percent purity. Experts have warned that if Iran steps in, it has enough material for a nuclear bomb.
Iran has enough material to make nuclear weapons
The Wall Street Journal has quoted reports that Iran has accumulated 43 kg of uranium. Iran has accumulated 10 kg of uranium in the last three months. Experts say Iran’s 43-kilogram stockpile is now above the stated quantity that tells how much nuclear material might be needed for a nuclear weapon. Experts say that it will take a few weeks for Iran to reach from 43 kg to 60 kg.
uranium reserves
The IAEA estimated in its report that Iran’s enriched uranium reserves were below 2.5 tonnes. This is almost 10 times more than the limit fixed in the nuclear deal, i.e. 202.8 kg. This is also about five times more than the pre-agreement reserves. The report said Iran was enriching at a level of more than 20 percent before the deal but is now enriching it at a level much higher and has enriched about 17.7 kg of uranium by more than 60 percent. This part is close to the 90% purity required to make a nuclear weapon. About 25 kg of 90 percent enriched uranium is needed to make an atomic bomb.
