Wednesday November 25, 2009

EXCLUSIVE - New Iran nuclear site boosts mistrust - ElBaradei

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. inspectors have no proof of more covert nuclear sites in Iran but a newly revealed plant makes little sense for civilian or military ends and mistrust has grown, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Wednesday.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei addresses a news conference in Berlin, November 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)

In an interview with Reuters, Mohamed ElBaradei also said Iran's insistence on changing a nuclear fuel deal could not be accepted by Western powers because it would not reduce its enriched uranium stockpile seen as an atomic bomb risk.

Speaking five days before he leaves office after 12 years heading the International Atomic Energy Agency, ElBaradei said he was advising big powers to wait for Iran to take a viable stance on the fuel plan because there was no imminent Iranian nuclear threat.

He said recourse to harsher sanctions against Iran, hinted at last week by Western powers angered by the fuel deal holdup, was likely to be counterproductive. He said U.N. resolutions against Iran were largely "expressions of frustration".

ElBaradei suggested that a six-power move to have the IAEA's 35-nation governing body pass a resolution later this week critical of Iran over its hitherto secret second enrichment site would do little to win greater cooperation from Tehran.

He said Iran must clarify the chronology and original purpose of the site in a mountain bunker at Fordow near Qom, saying it did not make sense as a standalone site for producing civilian nuclear energy.

"We have no indication that there are other undeclared facilities in Iran. I want to be very clear about that," he said, despite a Nov. 16 IAEA report saying Fordow "reduced the level of confidence" in the absence of other clandestine plants.

"Nor do we have any information that such facilities exist.

"(But) you cannot really use it for civilian purposes, it's too small to produce fuel for a civilian reactor, it would take a very long time. Even for military purposes i't is too small to produce the amount of (bomb) material needed, it would take a very long time."

Analysts say it would take almost 90 years for Fordow's planned 3,000 centrifuge machines to yield enough low-enriched uranium to fuel one commercial nuclear power plant for just one year, and 1-4 years to make fissile material for one bomb.

Asked about analyses saying the plant did not look viable except as part of a network of covert sites, including a uranium ore processing hub to feed Fordow's centrifuges, ElBaradei said "that is a valid question" the IAEA would further investigate.

"Iran did not tell us in time that they were building that facility," he said of Iran's declaration of the site's existence in September, at least two years after construction began.

"This adds to the confidence deficit (regarding Iran's nuclear intentions). As long as we continue in this environment of tension, we are not moving one inch towards a solution."

Iran has said the Fordow plant, like the much larger one at Natanz, was conceived to refine uranium only for peaceful uses.

ElBaradei said Tehran had told him Fordow would preserve its enrichment technology in case Natanz were bombed, a last-ditch option considered by Israel if diplomacy to rein in Iran's nuclear programme proves fruitless.

(Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)

News Poll

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs

Latest from StarProperty