Post by peterd on Oct 10, 2013 7:21:45 GMT -8
The Iranian Regime Signals It Will Agree To A Deal With The U.S. – If Its Right To Enrich Uranium On Its Soil Is Recognized; The U.S. Administration Signals That It Will Accept This Condition
Introduction
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) bans signatory countries that are not members of the "Nuclear Club" from enriching uranium on their own soil unless they meet stringent regulatory preconditions and have proven that the enrichment is both low-level and strictly for civilian purposes. The international community allows countries that require nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to purchase the enriched uranium that they need from authorized countries, under the supervision and approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Many prosperous Western countries do this in order to operate reactors for civilian purposes such as producing power and medical isotopes.
Up until now, the consensus in the international community, as expressed by the position of the 5+1 group in the UN Security Council, was consistently against recognizing Iran as a nuclear state and against Iran's interpretation of the NPT – according to which it is entitled to enrich uranium on its soil. This policy was also expressed unequivocally by Mohamed ElBaradei during his term as IAEA chief; in a February 2005 interview with AFP, he said: "We just cannot continue business as usual, that every country can build its own factories for separating plutonium or enriching uranium. Then we are really talking about 30, 40 countries sitting on the fence with a nuclear weapons capability that could be converted into a nuclear weapon in a matter of months."[1]
Iran's right to enrich uranium on its own soil is the bone of contention in Iran's dispute with the international community and the UN Security Council. Security Council resolutions are demanding that Iran immediately cease all enrichment activity, while Iran's refusal to comply with the resolutions has led to sanctions against it.[2]
It must be noted that Iran has only two nuclear reactors for civilian purposes – one in Bushehr, which produces electricity and is powered by fuel rods that are enriched up to 5% and are purchased from Russia under a contract between the two countries, and another, a Tehran research reactor that is meant to produce medical isotopes. This second reactor requires several kilograms every year of fuel enriched to 19.75%, and Iran already has in its possession more than enough uranium enriched to 20% to operate this reactor for its entire lifetime.
It should also be mentioned that Iran claims that the plutonium reactor that is currently under construction in Arak and that is set to become operational in about a year will produce the same medical isotopes, in a track that is parallel to the uranium track at the Tehran reactor and allegedly for the same purpose. The international community has demanded that Iran halt all activity at this reactor over fears that it will be used for military purposes.
Iran is demanding the right to enrich uranium on its soil because recognition of this right will make it a nuclear power, and a member of the global nuclear club. Even if it does not develop nuclear weapons, either right away or at any point thereafter, as a "threshold state," it will still be capable of doing so if it so desires.
www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7453.htm
Introduction
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) bans signatory countries that are not members of the "Nuclear Club" from enriching uranium on their own soil unless they meet stringent regulatory preconditions and have proven that the enrichment is both low-level and strictly for civilian purposes. The international community allows countries that require nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to purchase the enriched uranium that they need from authorized countries, under the supervision and approval of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Many prosperous Western countries do this in order to operate reactors for civilian purposes such as producing power and medical isotopes.
Up until now, the consensus in the international community, as expressed by the position of the 5+1 group in the UN Security Council, was consistently against recognizing Iran as a nuclear state and against Iran's interpretation of the NPT – according to which it is entitled to enrich uranium on its soil. This policy was also expressed unequivocally by Mohamed ElBaradei during his term as IAEA chief; in a February 2005 interview with AFP, he said: "We just cannot continue business as usual, that every country can build its own factories for separating plutonium or enriching uranium. Then we are really talking about 30, 40 countries sitting on the fence with a nuclear weapons capability that could be converted into a nuclear weapon in a matter of months."[1]
Iran's right to enrich uranium on its own soil is the bone of contention in Iran's dispute with the international community and the UN Security Council. Security Council resolutions are demanding that Iran immediately cease all enrichment activity, while Iran's refusal to comply with the resolutions has led to sanctions against it.[2]
It must be noted that Iran has only two nuclear reactors for civilian purposes – one in Bushehr, which produces electricity and is powered by fuel rods that are enriched up to 5% and are purchased from Russia under a contract between the two countries, and another, a Tehran research reactor that is meant to produce medical isotopes. This second reactor requires several kilograms every year of fuel enriched to 19.75%, and Iran already has in its possession more than enough uranium enriched to 20% to operate this reactor for its entire lifetime.
It should also be mentioned that Iran claims that the plutonium reactor that is currently under construction in Arak and that is set to become operational in about a year will produce the same medical isotopes, in a track that is parallel to the uranium track at the Tehran reactor and allegedly for the same purpose. The international community has demanded that Iran halt all activity at this reactor over fears that it will be used for military purposes.
Iran is demanding the right to enrich uranium on its soil because recognition of this right will make it a nuclear power, and a member of the global nuclear club. Even if it does not develop nuclear weapons, either right away or at any point thereafter, as a "threshold state," it will still be capable of doing so if it so desires.
www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/7453.htm