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Iranian Enrichment Capacity Reaches Plateau

[Reuters] Sylvia Westall and Mark Heinrich - Iran has not expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium at its Natanz nuclear site since the end of May after increasing capacity steadily over the previous three years, diplomats said. However, some diplomats and analysts said the slowed enrichment growth was more likely a technical than a political issue. UN inspectors reported on May 31 that Iran had just under 5,000 centrifuges refining uranium. However, the number that have been installed, though not yet brought on stream, has risen from around 2,100 in May, diplomats said. These could be added to production lines within a few weeks, if desired, according to nuclear analysts. "Once they're installed, it only takes a few weeks to test-run them under vacuum before they're ready to enrich," said David Albright, head of Washington's Institute for Science and International Security which tracks nuclear proliferation.
2009-08-26 06:00:00
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