Tuesday August 25, 2009
EXCLUSIVE - No enrichment boost in Iran since May - dips
By Sylvia Westall and Mark Heinrich
VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran has not expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium at its Natanz nuclear site since the end of May after increasing capacity steadily over the previous three years, diplomats said.
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A view of the uranium conversion site at Isfahan, Iran, is seen in this DigitalGlobe satellite image released with notations by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) on April 16, 2006, file photo. (REUTERS/DigitalGlobe-ISIS) |
The reason for the slowdown was unclear. The International Atomic Energy Agency is due to issue a report later this week that will influence big-power talks due to consider harsher sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear campaign.
Since May, Iran has been hit by unrest over alleged election fraud that has split the political establishment, a relative moderate has become head of Iran's nuclear authority, and Western powers have said they will pursue harsh sanctions against Iran if it does not accept talks on its nuclear work by the end of September.
"There has been no increase in the number of centrifuges enriching uranium since the end of May," a senior Vienna diplomat familiar with the issue said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of political sensitivities.
Some diplomats and analysts said the slowed enrichment growth was more likely a technical than political issue. They noted Iranian officials had renewed defiant refusals to curb the programme despite the threat of harsher sanctions.
They also said Iran could swiftly resume expansion since, in addition to just under 5,000 centrifuges refining uranium as reported by U.N. inspectors on May 31, it had already installed many more in preparation for entering the production chain.
The senior diplomat said the number of Iranian centrifuges -- cylindrical machines that whirl at supersonic speed in linked networks -- now enriching uranium was slightly lower because some had been taken down for repair and maintenance.
But the number that have been installed, though not yet brought on stream, has risen from around 2,100 in May, diplomats said. These could be added to production lines within a few weeks, if desired, according to nuclear analysts.
"Once they're installed, it only takes a few weeks to test-run them under vacuum before they're ready to enrich," said David Albright, head of Washington's Institute for Science and International Security which tracks nuclear proliferation.
The Islamic Republic is at odds with major powers, which suspect it is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons capability.
It denies this, saying it is enriching uranium only for electricity generation, though it has no nuclear power plants to use the low-enriched material it is stockpiling.
Copyright © 2008 Reuters
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