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Iran's Nuclear Program: Gathering Dust or Gaining Steam?

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Michael Eisenstadt - Russian officials recently announced that the first reactor at Bushehr (Unit I) may be completed this year. Although not ideally suited for the purpose, Bushehr could become a source of plutonium for weapons. For example, during a protracted crisis or war, Tehran could run the reactor at economically inefficient low fuel burn-up levels to produce weapons-grade plutonium or, alternately, separate reactor-grade plutonium from spent fuel awaiting reshipment to Russia. Although reactor-grade plutonium is not ideal for bombmaking (radioactivity makes it dangerous to work with, while its isotopic composition makes for an inefficient and unreliable weapon), the U.S. demonstrated the military utility of such plutonium in a 1962 underground nuclear explosive test. Iran could produce plutonium by 2005. Weaponization could take another six to twelve months.
2003-02-13 00:00:00
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