Text 25102, 116 rader
Skriven 2006-11-14 21:42:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Iran
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The liberals will deny this and say that we should get along with 
Iran...

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http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2006-
11-14T205552Z_01_L14452410_RTRUKOC_0_US-NUCLEAR-IRAN-
IAEA.xml&src=rss&rpc=22

U.N. sleuths find plutonium at Iran atom site: IAEA
Tue Nov 14, 2006 3:57pm ET

By Mark Heinrich

VIENNA (Reuters) - U.N. inspectors have found traces of plutonium, of 
possible use in atom bombs, at an Iranian nuclear waste site as Tehran 
pursues a nuclear program despite the risk of sanctions, an IAEA report 
said on Tuesday.

The International Atomic Energy Agency report, obtained by Reuters, also 
said the U.N. watchdog still could not confirm Iran's nuclear intentions 
were entirely peaceful given its continued stonewalling of IAEA 
inquiries dating to 2003.

IAEA inspectors detected bits of plutonium in samples of particles of 
highly enriched uranium (HEU) taken earlier from containers at the Karaj 
atomic waste facility near Tehran. In larger amounts, plutonium and HEU 
can detonate atom bombs. 

THE 21st CENTURY IN PICTURES

War and Conflict
View Slideshow
In response to IAEA queries, Iran said the HEU could have come from 
spent fuel from a Tehran light-water research reactor, the report said. 
Iran on Monday provided an explanation of the "slight plutonium 
contamination" now being assessed by the IAEA.

The report also confirmed Iran last month launched a second experimental 
chain of 164 centrifuges and began injecting them with uranium "UF6" gas 
for enrichment as nuclear fuel.

From August 13 to November 2, Iran fed some 34 kg (75 pounds) of UF6 
into centrifuges at the Natanz plant, yielding nominal amounts of 
uranium enriched to low levels that could be suitable for power plant 
fuel, the report said. That would be far short of the 80 percent 
refinement needed for the core of a bomb.

Iran had run both chains, known as cascades, empty for vacuum-testing 
most of the time since reviving a pilot uranium enrichment drive early 
this year after a 2 1/2 year suspension.

"The amount of enriched uranium produced so far is too small for (use as 
fuel)," said a senior U.N. official familiar with the report by IAEA 
chief Mohamed ElBaradei. 

This activity remained under constant IAEA surveillance. But Iran 
continued to hamstring agency investigators by preventing them from 
examining materials and interviewing officials and scientists linked to 
nuclear research, the report said.

NUCLEAR MATERIAL

"The Agency will remain unable to make further progress in its efforts 
to verify the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in 
Iran unless Iran addresses the long outstanding verification issues ... 
and provides the necessary transparency," said the report.

"Progress in this regard is the requisite for the Agency to be able to 
confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme," said the 
report, leaked as six world powers debate sanctions against Iran at the 
U.N. Security Council. 

THE 21st CENTURY IN PICTURES

War and Conflict
View Slideshow
Tehran says its nuclear fuel program is solely for generating 
electricity. Western powers believe Iran, the world's fourth largest oil 
exporter, wants to master enrichment technology to be able to assemble 
nuclear bombs, something analysts say it could achieve in 3-10 years.

The reports said Iran still had not clarified questions about black-
market acquisitions of material for centrifuge enrichment machines, and 
research linking uranium-ore processing, high-explosive tests and 
missile warhead design.

Other unresolved issues include the extent of research on a new 
generation of centrifuges that could enrich 2-3 times faster than the 
model now being used.

Iran continues to dodge an IAEA request to install remote monitoring 
devices at nuclear sites so that camera images could be transmitted 
straight to IAEA experts abroad, the report said.

A senior IAEA diplomat said the lack of remote monitoring in Iran would 
become a serious handicap for inspectors once Tehran installed several 
thousand centrifuges for "industrial-scale" enrichment, as it plans to 
do by the spring of 2007. 

At this time it is very difficult for our inspectors to move around in 
Iran. Once they expand to 3,000 centrifuges or more, remote monitoring 
will become more urgent, as long as Iran refuses to allow unannounced 
inspections," he told Reuters.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran aimed to 
install 60,000 centrifuges, up from 54,000 mentioned earlier.

A U.S. diplomat accused Iran seeking a clash on the nuclear issue. "Iran 
is looking for a confrontation with the world," U.S. Ambassador to the 
International Atomic Energy Agency Gregory Schulte said in an interview 
with Al Arabiya television.


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