Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has confirmed that Iran is planning to halt the enrichment of uranium up to 20 percent in the near future, expressing hope for “substantial reciprocal steps” toward Iran to keep things amicable with the incoming president.
20 percent is technically “high enriched” uranium, and though far short of the 95% needed to make a bomb, has been angrily condemned by Western nations. Iran has been using the uranium to attempt to produce fuel for the aging Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). Built by the US in the 1960’s, the TRR provides all of Tehran’s isotopes for nuclear medicine.
It may soon be phased out, however. Owing to the difficulty in getting or making fuel rods for the TRR, Iran is working on a new heavy water research reactor at Arak, which would allow them to use unenriched uranium in the production of isotopes. This has been condemned too by Western nations, however, as a technological advancement above and beyond the creaky old TRR.
Israel is unhappy at any rate, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting it was unacceptable for Iran to scrap its 20 percent enrichment and demanding that they mothball the entire enrichment system as well as Arak and the rest of its civilian program unconditionally, adding that Israel would accept no less.
Under its safeguards agreement Iran has every right to a civilian nuclear program. It has said it will continue to produce 3.5 percent enriched uranium for fuel at the Bushehr power plant, a Russian-built site that has been in full operation for only about a year.
I never see it mentioned in this context: US Naval reactors use a hell of a lot closer to weapons grade than 20% –at least into the 90%s. That's damn well been on the web (so I'm not 'leaking'), along with some reasoning for using weapons grade in reactors. That's been a big contradiction in my own mind that another gov't is being harassed over enrichment at all –as if boomboom is the only reason to enrich beyond ~'civilian energy grade.' Maybe that's just a trivial element of the hypocrisy for some.
Natural uranium? Is it e.g. a CANDU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CANDU_reactor#Fuel_c… ? Hey, send 'em some of that old weapons plutonium to burn, too. What the hell are you using it for? Oh yeah–nuclear weapons! …or maybe India could send 'em some thorium; spinning that into a weapons issue would be desperate indeed. But there is apparently no change in Iran's program that isn't going to be spun by the Jewish lobby. Nonsense = opportunity. I s'pect the more 'ammunition' Iran's nuclear program gives them, the less credible the lobby becomes.
If they do that then watch the reason for the sanctions shift unto something else.
How about Netanyahu joins the Treaty and complies himself before he gets to complain about members of the Treaty not doing as he wants?
“20 percent is technically “high enriched” uranium” – No, it isn't.
Iran has always said it would taper off 20% enrichment once they had enough to fuel the TRR. Shifting to another method of providing fuel for the TRR or another reactor is just smart given the problems they've had getting medical isotopes due to the West's intransigence.
So really this won't change anything in the negotiations. The US doesn't care about the 20% – it's policy has been and will continue to be complete cessation of enrichment. And the real goal is regime change anyway.