Iran racing for the immunity zone
I have discussed the concept of an 'immunity zone' - a point where Iran has moved enough nuclear enrichment underground so that Israel could no longer effectively attack Iran's nuclear program, but the United States still could - several times over the past few weeks. The most detailed discussion is here.On Monday, diplomats in Vienna reported that Iran has moved more of its uranium enrichment activities underground. Neither Iran, nor the IAEA which is based in Vienna, were available for comment.
Iran last month confirmed it had begun refining uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at Fordow, shifting its highest-grade enrichment from an above-ground location to better protect it against any strikes by Israel or the United States.How's that last paragraph for an understatement.
Washington, which has not ruled out military action against Iran if diplomacy fails to resolve the long-running nuclear dispute, on Jan. 9 denounced the start-up of the Fordow plant as a further escalation of Iran's "ongoing violations" of UN resolutions.
At that time, diplomats said Iran was operating at Fordow two so-called cascades, each of 174 centrifuges - machines that spin at supersonic speed to increase the ratio of the fissile isotope. More centrifuges were being installed, they said.
Enriched uranium can have both civilian and military uses.
One Vienna-based diplomat said two more cascades, like the first pair connected with each other to make the process more efficient, had now also been deployed to enrich uranium.
"The second set of cascades is operational ... my understanding is they are both operational and (have) no problems," the diplomat said.
Another diplomat accredited to the IAEA also painted a picture of expanding activity at Fordow, without giving details.
...
The decision to move work which the UN Security Council has called on Iran to suspend to an underground facility could further complicate diplomatic efforts to resolve the standoff peacefully.
It's no longer a question of whether there will be a strike on Iran's nuclear weapons program. It's a question of when and by whom. US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta may have been right. Or he may have given too late date.
Labels: Iranian nuclear threat, Qom
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:27 AM
1 Comments:
Hi Carl.
I see you mention two so-called cascades, each of 174 centrifuges.
So far i only saw mentioined once the number of a maximun capacity of 3,000 centrifuges at fordow in a French blog.
If their source is correct then we're talking about a lot of difference.
Quote:"The maximum of 3,000 centrifuges that Fordow can contain will never produce enough to supply the fuel needed for a nuclear reactor.However, their performance is perfect for making nuclear bombs."
Nous, d’ajouter, que les 3000 centrifugeuses que peut contenir, au maximum, le site de Fordow n’auront jamais une production suffisante pour fournir le carburant nécessaire à un réacteur nucléaire. En revanche, leur rendement est parfait pour la fabrication de bombes.
http://www.menapress.org/
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