In an announcement on Monday, an official at Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility said that Iran will ramp up their production of low-enriched uranium, aiming for a fourfold increase in their current rate of production.
At present, Iran is only enriching uranium to 3.67 percent, the level
needed to fuel the Bushehr Power Plant. The uranium is generally sent on
to Russia for the production of fuel rods. At previous production
levels, Iran was producing only a fraction of the fuel they need, and
this suggests that with increased sanctions they are looking for more
self sufficiency.
Because of the improvement of centrifuge technology since the P5+1 deal
began, Iran can increase this enrichment without violating the terms of
the deal. The withdrawal of a member (the US) from the deal, also
allowed Iran to withdraw from voluntary caps of uranium stockpile, which
they did recently.
Iran’s voluntary limit was 300 kg of low-enriched uranium, and with
higher production, along with US demands that Russia stop helping them
process fuel, its likely they will run up on that limit. This suggests
Iran’s announcement they were ending the voluntary stockpile cap was
done in anticipation of this new move.
Iran Announces Fourfold Increase in Low-Enriched Uranium Production
Uranium will be enriched to 3.67 percent, as usual
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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