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Nuclear Agency Says Iran Has Improved Enrichment
By ELAINE SCIOLINO
Published: September 15, 2008
PARIS — Iran has substantially improved the efficiency of its centrifuges that produce enriched uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday, indicating that the nation has overcome some of the technical challenges that had plagued its enrichment program.
In a six-page report, the agency charged the Iranians with continuing to stonewall about what some Western governments suspected was Iran’s past research on designing a nuclear weapon. The agency acknowledged that it had failed “to make any substantial progress” in its investigation.
“We seem to be at a dead end,” said a senior official with links to the agency. “We would describe it as a gridlock.”
The report is another setback to an agency initiative begun last summer that gave Iran fixed deadlines to resolve questions about nuclear activities in the past two decades and asked the United States and other countries for patience in pursuing new sanctions.
In another revelation, the agency said for the first time that a foreign expert or group of experts may have helped Iran with experiments on a detonator that could be used in the implosion of a nuclear weapon.
The report referred only to “foreign expertise” and did not specify its origin.
The official linked to the agency said a foreign government was not involved. He also ruled out the involvement of Libya and the remnants of the network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani metallurgist who built the world’s largest black-market sales operation for nuclear technology.
A senior Western official said that North Korea, which has been accused of aiding Syria in building a nuclear reactor, was not involved.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.
Iran, which has denied in the past that such activities took place, has been asked for an explanation of the issue.
The agency also criticized Iran for continuing to expand its uranium enrichment program in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Iran is now running about 3,800 centrifuges, the machines that make enriched uranium, an increase of several hundred in the past four months, the report said.
More significantly, it has increased the efficiency of its centrifuges to about 80 percent from about 50 percent, according to calculations based on the report’s figures. That means the machines are processing more material, crashing less and running closer to their stated capacity.
A benchmark of enrichment progress is when Iran accumulates enough low-enriched uranium to be able to produce weapon-grade uranium quickly enough for a nuclear weapon, according to an analysis of the report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
American intelligence estimates have said the earliest Iran can produce enough material for a weapon is late 2009.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes, like generating electricity. The report made clear that there had been no diversion of nuclear material for weapons purposes.
The agency’s report will be used by the United States, France and Britain in their push this fall in the Security Council for a new set of sanctions against Iran. Russia, which has signed big trade deals and enhanced its diplomatic relationship with Iran, is likely to resist the initiative.
Tensions between Russia and the West over Russia’s intervention in Georgia, and what officials said was a lack of focus by the Bush administration in its final months in office, have also complicated efforts by the world powers to forge a common strategy toward Iran.
David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington, and Nazila Fathi from Tehran.
Published: September 15, 2008
PARIS — Iran has substantially improved the efficiency of its centrifuges that produce enriched uranium, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday, indicating that the nation has overcome some of the technical challenges that had plagued its enrichment program.
In a six-page report, the agency charged the Iranians with continuing to stonewall about what some Western governments suspected was Iran’s past research on designing a nuclear weapon. The agency acknowledged that it had failed “to make any substantial progress” in its investigation.
“We seem to be at a dead end,” said a senior official with links to the agency. “We would describe it as a gridlock.”
The report is another setback to an agency initiative begun last summer that gave Iran fixed deadlines to resolve questions about nuclear activities in the past two decades and asked the United States and other countries for patience in pursuing new sanctions.
In another revelation, the agency said for the first time that a foreign expert or group of experts may have helped Iran with experiments on a detonator that could be used in the implosion of a nuclear weapon.
The report referred only to “foreign expertise” and did not specify its origin.
The official linked to the agency said a foreign government was not involved. He also ruled out the involvement of Libya and the remnants of the network run by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the Pakistani metallurgist who built the world’s largest black-market sales operation for nuclear technology.
A senior Western official said that North Korea, which has been accused of aiding Syria in building a nuclear reactor, was not involved.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity under normal diplomatic rules.
Iran, which has denied in the past that such activities took place, has been asked for an explanation of the issue.
The agency also criticized Iran for continuing to expand its uranium enrichment program in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Iran is now running about 3,800 centrifuges, the machines that make enriched uranium, an increase of several hundred in the past four months, the report said.
More significantly, it has increased the efficiency of its centrifuges to about 80 percent from about 50 percent, according to calculations based on the report’s figures. That means the machines are processing more material, crashing less and running closer to their stated capacity.
A benchmark of enrichment progress is when Iran accumulates enough low-enriched uranium to be able to produce weapon-grade uranium quickly enough for a nuclear weapon, according to an analysis of the report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security.
American intelligence estimates have said the earliest Iran can produce enough material for a weapon is late 2009.
Iran insists that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes, like generating electricity. The report made clear that there had been no diversion of nuclear material for weapons purposes.
The agency’s report will be used by the United States, France and Britain in their push this fall in the Security Council for a new set of sanctions against Iran. Russia, which has signed big trade deals and enhanced its diplomatic relationship with Iran, is likely to resist the initiative.
Tensions between Russia and the West over Russia’s intervention in Georgia, and what officials said was a lack of focus by the Bush administration in its final months in office, have also complicated efforts by the world powers to forge a common strategy toward Iran.
David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Washington, and Nazila Fathi from Tehran.
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