Iran says it has produced more enriched uranium

TEHRAN (AP) — Iran's nuclear chief said Wednesday his country has produced 17 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent, defying U.N. demands to halt the controversial program.
The 20 percent level, needed to produce fuel for a medical research reactor, is far below the more than 90 percent required to build a nuclear weapon, but U.S. officials have expressed concern Iran may be moving closer to the ability to reach weapons-grade level.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to acquire atomic weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity.
Iran has been producing the 20 percent enriched material since February. The new figure of 17 kilograms — about 37 pounds — was announced by Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who heads Iran's nuclear program. That is up from 5 kilograms (11 pounds) Iran announced in April that it had produced so far.
"Potentially, we can produce 5 kilograms a month but we are not in a hurry over this," Mr. Salehi said, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution two weeks ago strengthening sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear program and calling on individual countries and blocs of nations to expand their own sanctions regimes on Iranian individuals and organizations.
The European Union followed with new sanctions, and last week the U.S. Treasury Department said it would restrict economic contacts with some three dozen additional individuals and companies claimed to be helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile programs and evade international penalties.
Iran is producing the further enriched material from its stocks of low enriched uranium, which at 3.5 percent purity is the level needed to fuel an electricity-generating reactor.
Iran says it needs the 20 percent enriched uranium to produce fuel rods to power a research reactor that produces isotopes for treating cancer and other medical material. Salehi said Iran possesses the technology needed to produce the fuel rods and the first should be ready sometime next spring.
He said Iran plans to build four new reactors for atomic medical research around the country, saying the reactors will be for radioactive isotopes for medical needs of patients in Iran and abroad.
The United Nations has demanded Iran halt all enrichment activities, but Iran says it has a right to the program to fuel a peaceful nuclear program.

Comments

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF...

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite...

ASIAN DEFENCE

Search This Blog