Iran to start building two new enrichment sites - Summary

Tehran- Iran plans to build two new uranium enrichment sites inside of a mountain to protect them from a possible attack, the country's top atomic official said Monday. Ali-Akbar Salei told ISNA news agency that work on the sites would start in the new Persian year, which begins March 21. He gave no further details about the date but said that the sites would be built inside mountains so that they are secure from military attacks.

Salehi added that, according to a long-term plan, 10 new enrichment sites are to be built. Locations for five have already been found, and spots for the remaining five were to be earmarked shortly, he said.

The Iranian government announced last year that the country needed 10 new enrichment sites to meet its power generation and medical needs. Iran's expanding nuclear work has drawn increased concern by the United States and its allies worried that Tehran is getting closer to having a nuclear weapons capability.

"This is further evidence that Iran refuses to engage cooperatively and constructively," US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said in Washington.

Iran operates an enrichment plant at Natanz where a total of 8,500 enrichment centrifuges are installed but not all of them are operating. The site is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Last year, Iran disclosed work at a second site, at Fordu, south of Tehran. The IAEA criticized Iran for violating its obligations to report new nuclear facilities to the UN's nuclear guardian at planning stage.

The Natanz site enriches uranium to 3.5 per cent, which is enough to produce nuclear fuel, but since February stepped up some enrichment to 20 per cent.

Iran says it needs the higher-grade uranium for producing medical isotopes for cancer treatment.

The move raised concern among the international community, echoed by an IAEA report last week, that Iran is aiming to enrich uranium to the 90 per cent needed for weapons-grade fissile material.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/310677,iran-to-start-building-two-new-enrichment-sites--summary.html.