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| IAEA confirms Irans improved nuclear cooperation |
| 2009-08-29 |
| [Iran Press TV Latest] In its latest report on Iran, the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed that the country is improving its cooperation with the agency while it continues to enrich uranium in spite of UN Security Council resolutions. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in the report released on Friday that "following repeated requests" by the IAEA, the agency was provided with access to the heavy water reactor at Arak, in central Iran. After carrying out a design information verification (DIV), the agency "verified that the construction of the facility was ongoing," the IAEA said in the report, a copy of which was obtained by Press TV. The IAEA report quoted Iranian operators of the reactor as saying that "the reactor vessel was still being manufactured, and that it would be installed in 2011." The access to the reactor had been denied for a year. Western countries say the Arak site could have been transformed into a weapons-grade plutonium-producing factory after its roof was installed, foiling monitoring with satellite imagery. Iran says the site would be used for producing isotopes for medicine and agriculture. The country also denies seeking any nuclear weaponry, calling for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction around the world. The report, meanwhile, added that the agency has been able to continue "to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran." "Iran has cooperated with the agency in improving safeguards measures at FEP [Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz]," the report said. Meanwhile, it warned that, "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities or its work on heavy water related projects as required by the Security Council." Tehran is under three rounds of sanctions resolutions for its enrichment work. "Contrary to the requests of the [IAEA] Board of Governors and the [UN] Security Council, Iran has neither implemented the Additional Protocol nor cooperated with the agency in connection with the remaining issues of concern which need to be clarified to exclude the possibility of military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program". The Additional Protocol requires member states to provide an expanded declaration of their nuclear activities and grants the agency broader rights of access to sites in the country. Iran says a broader access would expose sensitive information related to its conventional military and missile related activities, insisting that any government would be reluctant to accept such a protocol because of national security concerns. The report added that as of July 31, Iran has stockpiled at least 1430kg of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6). The agency also confirmed in 29 unannounced inspections, it had found that the Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz as well as the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP), a test facility located at the same site, had been "operating as declared." Iran has only managed to enrich uranium-235 to a level "less than 5 percent." Uranium, the fuel for a nuclear power plant, can serve in military purposes if enriched to high levels. Nuclear arms production requires an enrichment level of above 90 percent. |
| Posted by:Fred |