AP NewsBreak: IAEA says Iran has begun enriching uranium gas in nuclear program
VIENNA, Austria: Iran has started enriching small amounts of uranium gas at its underground plant and is already running more than 1,300 of the machines used in the enrichment process, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency document obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
The confidential document — a letter to Iranian officials from a senior IAEA staff member — also protests an Iranian decision to prevent agency inspectors to visit the country's heavy water facility that, when built, will produce plutonium. Enriched uranium and plutonium can both be used for the fissile core of nuclear warheads.
The letter, signed by IAEA Deputy Director General Olli Heinonen and dated April 18 — Thursday — said the agency wanted to "take note of the information provided by Iran ... that Iran has put into operation" 1,312 centrifuges — the machines used to spin the gas into enriched uranium.
The letter also cited Iranian information to the agency that "some UF6 is being fed" into the centrifuges, referring to the uranium gas that can be enriched to levels potent enough to be used for nuclear arms.
Iran says it wants to enrich only to lower levels suitable to generate nuclear power. But suspicions about its ultimate intentions, after nearly two decades of nuclear secrecy exposed only four years ago, have led to U.N. Security Council sanctions for its refusal to freeze its enrichment program.
It was unclear what the purpose of the uranium gas feed was. A diplomat accredited to the IAEA, who demanded anonymity because he was disclosing confidential information, said the operation appeared to be part of "stress tests" meant see if the machines were running smoothly.
But he and another diplomat said that, even if the operation was not meant to enrich large amounts of uranium, it appeared to be the last step before larger-scale enrichment begins.
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Defense Secretary Gates: Diplomacy With Iran Progressing
By LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press Writer
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday that diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff with Iran over its disputed nuclear program are "working" and should be given a chance to succeed.
Both the U.S. and Israel accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies. Gates said the international community "is united in telling Iran what it needs to do with respect to its nuclear program."
The United States and its allies have led efforts to pass two U.N. Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to develop nuclear weapons.
"We agreed it was important to deal with the Iranian nuclear problem through diplomacy, which appears to be working," Gates said at a news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Amir Peretz.
"These things don't work overnight, but it seems to me clearly the preferable course to keep our focus on the diplomatic initiatives, and particularly because of the united front of the international community at this point," he added.
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Iran starts enrichment at underground nuclear plant, IAEA confirms
VIENNA (Thomson Financial) - Iran has assembled some 1,300 centrifuges at a key underground nuclear plant and has started to feed them with the uranium gas necessary for enriching uranium, the UN International Atomic Energy Agency said.
Pertinent Links:
1) AP NewsBreak: IAEA says Iran has begun enriching uranium gas in nuclear program
2) Gates: Diplomacy With Iran Progressing
3) Iran starts enrichment at underground nuclear plant, IAEA confirms
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