Iran has announced plans to acquire and operate 54,000 gas centrifuges
as part of an industrial program to produce nuclear fuel.
In an April 12 interview on Iranian state television, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization deputy director Mohammad Saeedi said
Teheran plans to install 3,000 centrifuges in Natanz over the next year. He
said the number would eventually increase to 54,000, but did not provide a
timetable.
Officials said Teheran has briefed the International Atomic Energy
Agency on plans for industrial-scale production of nuclear fuel for a
network of energy reactors. They said that in the first stage Iran — which
reported becoming the eighth country in the world to complete the nuclear
fuel cycle — would operate 3,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment
facility at Natanz, Middle East Newsline reported.
In the second stage, officials said, Natanz would have a capacity to
operate more than 50,000 centrifuges. In all, 54,000 centrifuges would be
acquired and operated over the next few years.
"We will expand uranium enrichment to industrial-scale at Natanz,"
Saeedi said.
On April 11, Iran announced the production of fuel-grade uranium at
Natanz by using a cascade of 164 centrifuges. They said Teheran has produced
110 tons of uranium hexaflouride, or UF6, the gas used to feed centrifuges.
Officials said Iran does not intend to use its nuclear program for
weapons production. Nuclear weapons require uranium to be enriched to a
level of 90 percent, an effort that could take from one to several years
depending on the size of the centrifuge cascade.
Saeedi said the 54,000 centrifuges were meant to provide fuel for a
1,000 megawatt light-water reactor. Russia was said to be in the last stages
of assembling Iran's first nuclear energy reactor at Bushehr, which
officials said was 92 percent complete.
Officials said they expect Bushehr to begin operations by November 2006.
On April 12, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah said Iran would construct two
additional nuclear power plants over the next year. Parliament has passed
legislation to construct 18 nuclear facilities to supply 20,000 megawatts of
electricity through 2025.
"There are no more prospects of a blackout in the country in the coming
summer as 1,700 megawatts of electricity will be added to the country's
electricity supply network," Fattah said.
Officials recalled Iran's steady expansion of its centrifuge cascade.
Since February, they said, Iran began with four centrifuges, then increased
the cascade to 10 and then 20. On April 9, Iranian scientists enriched
uranium to 3.5 percent — a level sufficient to produce nuclear fuel — with
164 centrifuges.
"The next stage is to install 3,000 centrifuges," Saeedi said. "We
definitely won't have problems doing that. We just need to increase our
production line."
Saeedi said Iran also intends to complete its heavy water facility at
Arak. He said Arak would replace the current nuclear research reactor in
Teheran.
Heavy water is regarded as a key component in the production of
plutonium. Saeedi said Arak would produce 16 tons of heavy water per year.
"A nuclear research reactor, which is currently being constructed in the
central Iranian city of Arak, will replace the current reactor in Teheran,"
Saaedi said. "It will operate with natural uranium fuel, which has been
processed in Isfahan's uranium enrichment facilities."
