Iran first started refining small batches of uranium to 20 percent purity in February, saying it wanted to manufacture fuel for a medical research reactor. Iran is also thought to lack the ability to make the special fuel assemblies needed for the medical research reactor.Tehran says its nuclear plan is for peaceful uses only. Yet, major world powers have recently backed a draft U.N. sanctions resolution against its atomic work.
The nine-page International Atomic Energy Agency report said Iran has added a second set of 164 centrifuges nuclear enhancement machines to help refine uranium to 20 percent purity. The report said they were not yet operational.At the time of the earlier report in February, Iran had only one set of centrifuges installed for the work.
The Islamic Republic has told the agency that the extra machines will carry the enrichment work by allowing material to be re-fed into the machines.But analysts say they could be configured to enlarge the production, a move which would ring alarm bells in the West. "Iran continues to broaden and deepen its enhancement capabilities," said David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International Security.
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