Exclusive: Iran steps up underground uranium enrichment, IAEA report says

The atomic image and the Iranian flag are seen on this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

VIENNA, Aug 29 (Reuters) – Iran is urgent forward with its rollout of an improve to its superior uranium enrichment programme, a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters on Monday confirmed, even because the West awaits Iran’s response on salvaging its 2015 nuclear deal.

The primary of three cascades, or clusters, of superior IR-6 centrifuges lately put in on the underground Gasoline Enrichment Plant (FEP) at Natanz is now enriching, the report stated, the newest underground web site at which the superior machines have come onstream. learn extra

Diplomats say the IR-6 is its most superior mannequin, way more environment friendly than the first-generation IR-1 – the one one the deal lets it enrich with.

For greater than a yr Iran has been utilizing IR-6 centrifuges to counterpoint uranium to as much as 60% purity, near weapons-grade, at an above-ground plant at Natanz.

Just lately it has expanded its enrichment with IR-6 machines at different websites. Final month a second IR-6 cascade at Fordow, a web site buried inside a mountain, began enriching to as much as 20%.

Within the confidential report back to U.N. member states, the watchdog, the Worldwide Atomic Vitality Company, wrote: “On 28 August 2022, the Company verified at FEP that Iran was feeding UF6 enriched as much as 2% U-235 into the IR-6 cascade … for the manufacturing of UF6 enriched as much as 5% U-235.”

Uranium hexafluoride (UF6) is the gasoline centrifuges enrich.

Of the 2 different IR-6 cascades put in on the Natanz FEP, one was present process passivation with depleted UF6, a course of that’s carried out earlier than enrichment correct begins, and the opposite had but to be fed with any nuclear materials, the company stated.

Iran and the US seem like inching in direction of an settlement to revive the 2015 deal, which positioned restrictions on Iran’s nuclear actions in trade for lifting sanctions towards Tehran. That deal unravelled after a U.S. withdrawal in 2018 prompted Iran to breach these restrictions one after the other.

After greater than a yr of oblique talks, Iran has stated it should quickly reply to the newest U.S. feedback on a compromise textual content submitted by the European Union, which is coordinating the talks.

A deal would contain undoing a lot of the enrichment work Iran has been doing, and capping its enrichment at 3.67% purity.

Its set up of superior machines at underground websites like Natanz and Fordow, nonetheless, might be a sign to any energy that may need to assault it if there isn’t a settlement, since it’s unclear that airstrikes on these websites could be efficient.

Western powers fear that Iran is shifting in direction of the flexibility to make nuclear bombs. Iran denies any such intention.

Reporting by Francois Murphy; Modifying by Chris Reese and Howard Goller

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