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Iran to turn uranium into reactor fuel under extended deal: source
Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran October 26, 2010.
CREDIT: REUTERS/MEHR NEWS AGENCY/MAJID ASGARIPOUR
(Reuters) - Iran will convert more of its higher-grade enriched uranium into reactor fuel under an extended nuclear deal with six world powers, making the material less suitable for building atomic bombs, a diplomatic source said on Monday.
Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China, and Russia failed to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for resolving their dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. They gave themselves until the end of June for further negotiations.
It was the second time this year they had missed a self-imposed target for a comprehensive agreement to scale back Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for phasing out sanctions that are hurting Tehran's oil-dependent economy.
As a result, a preliminary accord reached in late 2013, designed to buy time for the talks on a final settlement, will remain in force. Under its terms, Iran halted its most sensitive nuclear activity in return for limited easing of sanctions.
Accordingly, Iran earlier this year eliminated its stockpile of uranium gas enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a relatively short technical step away from weapons-grade material. A large part of it was processed into oxide.
When the deal was first extended in July, Iran undertook to move further away from weapons-usable material by converting 25 kg of the higher-grade uranium oxide - a quarter of the total - into nuclear fuel during the initial four-month extension.
The diplomatic source, who declined to be named, said that under the new extension Iran would continue this work and suggested about 5 kg would be converted per month. The details of the extended agreement have yet to be made public.
In a letter seen by Reuters on Monday, Iran and the six powers asked the U.N. nuclear watchdog to continue checks that Tehran is honoring its 2013 commitments, including "monitoring of fuel fabrication" for a Tehran research reactor.
The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting on Dec. 11 to discuss the IAEA's prolonged monitoring role, which will require additional funding, a Vienna-based diplomat said.
In July, a U.S. official said that once the oxide had been turned into fuel plates, Iran would "find it quite difficult and time-consuming" to use it in any effort to develop a bomb.
Iran denies Western allegations that it has been seeking a nuclear weapons capability, saying its atomic energy program is aimed at generating electricity.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/01/us-iran-nuclear-fuel-idUSKCN0JF2EV20141201
Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran October 26, 2010.
CREDIT: REUTERS/MEHR NEWS AGENCY/MAJID ASGARIPOUR
(Reuters) - Iran will convert more of its higher-grade enriched uranium into reactor fuel under an extended nuclear deal with six world powers, making the material less suitable for building atomic bombs, a diplomatic source said on Monday.
Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China, and Russia failed to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for resolving their dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. They gave themselves until the end of June for further negotiations.
It was the second time this year they had missed a self-imposed target for a comprehensive agreement to scale back Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for phasing out sanctions that are hurting Tehran's oil-dependent economy.
As a result, a preliminary accord reached in late 2013, designed to buy time for the talks on a final settlement, will remain in force. Under its terms, Iran halted its most sensitive nuclear activity in return for limited easing of sanctions.
Accordingly, Iran earlier this year eliminated its stockpile of uranium gas enriched to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, a relatively short technical step away from weapons-grade material. A large part of it was processed into oxide.
When the deal was first extended in July, Iran undertook to move further away from weapons-usable material by converting 25 kg of the higher-grade uranium oxide - a quarter of the total - into nuclear fuel during the initial four-month extension.
The diplomatic source, who declined to be named, said that under the new extension Iran would continue this work and suggested about 5 kg would be converted per month. The details of the extended agreement have yet to be made public.
In a letter seen by Reuters on Monday, Iran and the six powers asked the U.N. nuclear watchdog to continue checks that Tehran is honoring its 2013 commitments, including "monitoring of fuel fabrication" for a Tehran research reactor.
The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to hold an extraordinary meeting on Dec. 11 to discuss the IAEA's prolonged monitoring role, which will require additional funding, a Vienna-based diplomat said.
In July, a U.S. official said that once the oxide had been turned into fuel plates, Iran would "find it quite difficult and time-consuming" to use it in any effort to develop a bomb.
Iran denies Western allegations that it has been seeking a nuclear weapons capability, saying its atomic energy program is aimed at generating electricity.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/01/us-iran-nuclear-fuel-idUSKCN0JF2EV20141201
