IAEA reports Iranian progress on uranium metal despite Western objections

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi (3rd R) attends the 64th General Conference of the IAEA at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria on September 21, 2020. [Aşkın Kıyağan – Anadolu Agency]

Iran has made progress in its work on enriched uranium metal, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report to member states on Monday despite Western warnings that such work threatens talks on reviving the Iran nuclear deal, Reuters reported.

“On 14 August 2021, the Agency verified … that Iran had used 257 g of uranium enriched up to 20% U-235 in the form of UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) to produce 200 g of uranium metal enriched up to 20% U-235,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said, adding that this was step three in a four-step plan by Iran. The fourth includes producing a reactor fuel plate.

Iran’s work on enriched uranium metal has angered Europe’s three top powers and the United States because that technology, and knowledge of how to produce it, can be used to make the core of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its aims are entirely peaceful and it is developing a new type of reactor fuel.

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