TEHRAN, Dec 17: The first consignment of nuclear fuel from Russia for Iran’s first atomic power station has arrived in the country, the head of its atomic energy organisation Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said on Monday.
“The first consignment arrived in Iran on Monday. The transfer of the fuel will continue and everything will be given to Iran according to the timetable,” he told the state-run IRNA news agency.
Russia on Monday announced the start of nuclear fuel deliveries for the Bushehr plant, brushing aside US and Israeli accusations that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.
ENRICHMENT TO CONTINUE: Iran on Monday defiantly insisted it still wants to enrich uranium on Iranian soil to produce nuclear fuel, despite the delivery of a consignment of fuel from Russia.
Iran needs to make nuclear fuel for a second plant it is building and will not surrender to the demands of world powers, said the head of its atomic energy organisation, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh.
“We are building a 360 Megawatt nuclear reactor in Darkhoyen” in the western Khuzestan province, Aghazadeh told state television.
Officials have in the past said that Iranian engineers had started work on a new 360 MW reactor to produce electricity, but this was the first time its location had been revealed.
Aghazadeh insisted that the fuel for this plant would have to come from Iran’s uranium enrichment facility in the central city of Natanz, which world powers want Tehran to close.
“The fuel for this power station (Darkhoyen) must come from Natanz,” he said.
“Several years will be required to build this power station and in parallel we need to develop the enrichment plant in Natanz, where we currently have 3,000 centrifuges,” Aghazadeh added.
The dispute over Iran’s right to enrichment and to make its own nuclear fuel is the crux of the four-year nuclear standoff with the West.
Western powers want Tehran to suspend enrichment, which is a key part of the nuclear fuel cycle. It can also be used to make highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb, however.
Iran vehemently rejects accusations that it is seeking to acquire a nuclear weapon and has vowed never to suspend enrichment. The UN Security Council has already imposed two sets of sanctions on Tehran because of its defiance.
The publication of a US intelligence report this month that said Iran had halted a nuclear weapons drive in 2003 took the heat out of the crisis although the United States is still pushing hard for a third sanctions resolution.
Aghazadeh also reaffirmed Iran’s desire to massively ramp up the capacity of the Natanz plant to enrich uranium.
“The current 3,000 centrifuges in Natanz should reach 50,000 so that it could provide fuel for a 1,000-megawatt power plant... this will take a few years,” he said.
Russia’s foreign ministry on Monday also called on Iran to suspend enrichment “to prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear programme,” as it currently had no need to make atomic fuel domestically.
The agreement Russia signed with Iran in 1995 committed Moscow to providing the nuclear fuel for the Bushehr plant in addition to building the facility.
IRAN THREAT TO PEACE, SAYS BUSH: US President George Bush called Iran “a danger to peace” and said Russian shipments of nuclear fuel to Tehran mean that the Islamic republic does not need to enrich uranium.
“Iran was a threat to peace, Iran is a threat to peace, and Iran will be a threat to peace if we don’t stop their enrichment facilities,” he said, citing a US intelligence finding that Tehran halted a covert nuclear weapons program in 2003.
TEHRAN HAS NO NEED OF ENRICHMENT: The White House said that Russian nuclear fuel deliveries to Iran showed that Tehran had no legitimate need to pursue uranium enrichment, which can be a key step towards atomic weapons.
“This fuel delivery provides Iran with one more reason to suspend their nuclear programme. If the Russians are providing the Iranians fuel, the Iranians have no reason to enrich uranium themselves,” said spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
US officials said that a forewarned Washington had not objected to the shipment, and noted Russian pledges to keep the process under the supervision of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Chief White House spokeswoman Dana Perino called such oversight “a good step” but warned that “our concern about Iran continues to be very high, as it does with our allies.” Pointing to international negotiations aimed at ending Iran’s uranium enrichment efforts, Perino said: “Russia providing fuel to (the nuclear power station at) Bushehr has been a part of the discussions from day one, so we wouldn’t object to it.” Her comments came after Moscow announced the start of nuclear fuel deliveries for Iran’s first atomic power station, brushing aside US and Israeli claims that Tehran harbours secret bomb-building plans.
Perino pointed to Iran’s ballistic missile programmes and to a recent US intelligence finding that Tehran halted a secret nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and warned against easing international pressure on the Islamic republic.
“They continue to enrich uranium, they are testing ballistic weapons, and they haven’t come clean with the international community as to what exactly they were doing with a covert nuclear weapons program, and whether or not they’ve started it up again, whether or not they have the capability to do so.
So now is not the time to let up on the pressure,” she said.
IRAN SEEKS N-BOMB, SAYS ISRAEL: A senior Israeli minister charged on Monday that Iran’s insistence on enriching uranium despite Russia’s delivery of nuclear fuel supplies proved Tehran was seeking an atomic bomb.
“There is no doubt that the moment they continue enriching uranium even after they have nuclear fuel from the Russians, that it is not meant for peaceful energy or nuclear industry,” Minister for Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman told parliament.“There is no explanation for the uranium enrichment other than a will to obtain a nuclear weapon,” said the ultra-nationalist minister who is in charge of coordinating Israel’s efforts to counter Iran’s nuclear drive.
—AFP
Dear visitor, the comments section is undergoing an overhaul and will return soon.