Despite Scaremongering Iran’s Uranium Stockpile Not Growing

Civilian-Enriched Uranium Fueling Civilian Nuclear Program

by Jason Ditz, February 10, 2013

The Israeli “red line” on the size of Iran’s uranium stockpile is rapidly approaching, to hear Israeli diplomats talk. New reports from those familiar with the situation, however, suggest that this isn’t really the case.

That’s because while Iran’s civilian enrichment program is constantly creating low-enriched uranium, they are also constantly using it for their civilian program, and with Iran still making fuel for its medical isotope reactor that “red line” date keeps getting pushed back.

This already happened once, with the “red line” supposed to be reached in October of last year, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak eventually admitting the use of uranium had pushed it back until this summer. The continued use is pushing it back even more.

The reality of the situation is that these red lines are constantly predicated on Iran inexplicably stopping the use of uranium for civilian purposes, meaning there is always a “red line” looming in the next several months based on having any enrichment capability, an excuse to make threats against Iran without having the line ever actually get crossed.

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