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Experts Skeptical of Iranian Claims of Large-Scale Uranium Enrichment
[Los Angeles Times] Ramin Mostaghim and Borzou Daragahi - Iran's announcement Monday that it had achieved the capacity to enrich uranium on an "industrial scale" raises the fear that the Islamic Republic could manufacture a nuclear weapon within a year, but was met with deep skepticism from nuclear experts. Iran's assertion that it had fed gaseous uranium into 3,000 centrifuges to begin purifying nuclear material on an industrial scale was quickly disputed. Few outside experts believe Iran has successfully installed and is operating such a large system. Western experts suggest Iran has no more than 1,000 such devices, which it can operate only part time. A report in February by the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was able to operate about 328 centrifuges.