Iran: We have nuke fuel pellets
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has produced its own nuclear fuel pellets of enriched uranium for the first time to power its under construction heavy water research reactor, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said Saturday according to the state news agency.
Iran has long been working on its uranium enrichment capability to fuel its developing nuclear power program, including a 40-megawatt heavy water nuclear reactor under construction in Arak in the center of the country. The announcement indicates they have finally completed the nuclear fuel cycle.
The U.S. and its allies have called to a halt to the enrichment process which it says could be used to produce weapons, a charge Iran denies.
“Fuel pellets to be used in the 40-megawatt Arak research reactor have been produced,” IRNA quoted Aghazadeh as saying Saturday.
Producing enriched uranium fuel pellets is the final stage in a long process that begins with extracting the uranium ore, converting into a concentrate called yellow cake before processing into a gas that then has to be enriched using centrifuges.
Aghazadeh, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said they are already testing the fuel pellets and the fuel rods produced at its nuclear fuel production facilities in Isfahan, central Iran.
Just a couple of weeks ago Ahmadinejad was boasting that Iran had started uranium enrichment and now we learn that they have succeeded. About the same time they made that annoucement, they gave a graphic diagram illustrating what they wanted to do with their nuclear capabilities.
And the beat goes on ….. how safe does this make you feel?
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