Ryan Mauro's
WORLD THREATS.COM
This article first appeared at
BBC News website - February 5, 2007
Natanz is expected to have some 3,000 centrifuges at first Iran has set up more than 300 centrifuges at two uranium enrichment sites at its underground Natanz complex, Western diplomats have said. If confirmed, the centrifuges would be the first of 3,000 that Iran says it is planning to install at the site in the coming months.
The centrifuges could pave the way for work to create enough fissile material for a nuclear warhead.
Iran has repeatedly denied that it plans to develop nuclear weapons.
Two "cascades" of 164 centrifuges each have been installed at Natanz, the diplomats said on condition of anonymity.
Centrifuges spin uranium gas to enrich it to low levels for fuel and much higher levels for nuclear weapons.
Iran has said it eventually plans to install 54,000 centrifuges at Natanz.
Former UN nuclear inspector David Albright, whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks Iran's nuclear activities, said Iran should be able to reach its goal of 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the year.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London (IISS) has said that once Iran has 3,000 centrifuges operating smoothly, it could produce enough highly enriched uranium for one bomb in nine to 11 months.
On Saturday, a group of ambassadors from non-aligned countries was taken on a tour of a nuclear facility near the city of Isfahan on what was billed as a transparency visit.
It was the first such trip
since the UN imposed limited sanctions on Iran in December for refusing to
suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
With international concerns running high over Iran's nuclear programme, use the map below to find out more about its key nuclear facilities.
BUSHEHR - Nuclear power station
The Bushehr nuclear power station (image: DigitalGlobe) Iran's nuclear programme began in 1974 with plans to build a nuclear power station at Bushehr with German assistance.
The project was abandoned because of the Islamic revolution five years later, but revived in 1992 when Tehran signed an agreement with Russia to resume work at the site.
There are two pressurised water reactors at the site - one reportedly near completion.
ISFAHAN - Uranium conversion plant
Isfahan uranium conversion plant
Iran is building a plant here to convert uranium ore into three forms:
Hexafluoride gas - used in gas centrifuges Uranium oxide - used to fuel reactors, albeit not the type Iran is constructing Metal - often used in the cores of nuclear bombs. The IAEA is concerned about the metal's use, as Iran's reactors do not require it as fuel.
NATANZ - Uranium enrichment plant
A recent satellite image of the Natanz site
Iran suspended work on an uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in 2003 - but has recently reopened the facility.
In 2003, a leaked International Atomic Energy Agency report said that weapons-grade uranium had been found in samples taken from the site, although Iran blamed contaminated imported equipment, and an independent report later confirmed this.
According to some estimates, when complete, Natanz could house some 50,000 advanced gas centrifuges, which would produce enough weapons-grade uranium to produce more than 20 weapons per year.
Other estimates suggest the plant will have a total of 5,000 centrifuges when initial stages of the project are completed. With that number, Iran would be able to produce sufficient enriched uranium to make a small number of nuclear weapons each year.
ARAK - Heavy water plant
The Arak plant in 2002 (image: DigitalGlobe) The apparent existence of a heavy water facility near the town of Arak first emerged with the publication of satellite images by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security in December 2002.
Heavy water is used to moderate the nuclear fission chain reaction either in a certain type of reactor - albeit not the type that Iran is currently building - or produce plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb.