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From Bushehr to the Bomb
(Wall Street Journal) Editorial - For years, U.S. officials have insisted that the Russian-built reactor at Bushehr posed a negligible proliferation risk. Instead, they concentrated nearly all their attention on Iran's efforts to enrich uranium. Now it transpires that Iran removed the fuel rods at Bushehr in October, a mere two months after the reactor became fully operational. The transfer could have been a test run for the Iranians should they decide to reprocess those rods into weapons-grade plutonium for as many as 24 Nagasaki-type bombs. So much, then, for the notion that the Bushehr reactor is "proliferation resistant," since the IAEA is only permitted to inspect Bushehr once every 90 days. That means Iran could contrive an excuse to move the fuel rods without the agency knowing about it in time.