[Times-UK] James Hider - President Ahmadinejad opened Iran's first plant for producing nuclear fuel Thursday. The new plant in Isfahan will produce pellets of uranium oxide to fuel a heavy-water research reactor, which is expected to be up and running either this year or next. The international community is worried that Iran could reprocess spent fuel from the heavy-water reactor into plutonium for building a warhead. The Iranian news agency said that the fuel plant can produce 10 tons of nuclear fuel annually to feed the heavy water Arak reactor as well as 30 tons for light water reactors such as the Bushehr nuclear plant. Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's nuclear program, added that 7,000 centrifuges had been installed at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan.
2009-04-10 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive