At its November 29, 2009 session, the Iranian government announced that it would be constructing 10 additional uranium enrichment facilities the size of its facility at Natanz. [1] The government ordered the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization to launch the construction of five enrichment facilities at already determined locations in the next two months, and to propose suitable sites for the other five enrichment facilities.
The following are statements by Iranian officials on the issue:
Ahmadinejad: We Must Be Able to Produce 250-300 Tons of Nuclear Fuel Annually
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at the government meeting that in order to provide 20,000 megawatts of electricity for the country (under a national development plan for Iran set out by the U.S. in the Shah's time), Iran needed 500,000 centrifuges, and that a newer, higher-output model would be used. He said, "We need to reach a point in which we can produce 250 to 300 tons of nuclear fuel annually to meet the demand of the nuclear power plants, and in order to do this we need to manufacture and install 500,000 new high-performance centrifuges."
Ahmadinejad added that during its November 25, 2009 meeting, the government had examined the issue of producing nuclear fuel at 20% enrichment, and reiterated its official policy: "We are acting in a friendly and pleasant manner with the entire world, but at the same time we will not permit the loss of one iota of the rights of the Iranian nation." [2]
At the same time, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization chairman Ali Akbar Salehi said that the government's decision to construct 10 new enrichment facilities, and its intent to look at producing 20%-enriched nuclear fuel, was a "resolute response" to the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors, showing that "the Iranian nation is standing fast, and will never relinquish one iota of its rights." [3] He explained that the IAEA's resolution had forced the Iranian government to announce that it would build the additional enrichment facilities, even though it had not originally intended to do so: "We had no plan to build many nuclear sites like Natanz, but it seems that the West do[es] not want to comprehend Iran's message of peace... The West adopted an attitude toward Iran which made the Iranian government [ratify] construction of 10 sites similar to the Natanz enrichment facility." [4]
Kayhan in 2007: The U.S. Has Limited Information on Iran's Nuclear Facilities
Salehi added that "Iran intends to find five more sites scattered across the country, [for five enrichment facilities] and they will be constructed in the heart of the mountains," for protection from any attack. He said, "Fortunately, preliminary preparations are already underway for the five facilities that president [Ahmadinejad] has ordered, and [the sites have already] been located. We will inform the [Iranian] nation about them in due time." [5]
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In this context it should be noted that two years ago, on September 25, 2007, the Iranian daily Kayhan wrote that the information the U.S. had on Iran's nuclear facilities was limited to those under IAEA oversight, and that Iran had other hidden and camouflaged facilities: "The intelligence that the West currently has on Iran's nuclear program is limited to the sites accessible to IAEA inspectors, and more than that they do not know... Is the [total] number of Iran's nuclear facilities [really] limited to those facilities that have been reported - so that America can be certain that by destroying them it will destroy Iran's entire nuclear program, or at least set it back for a very long time?... Iran's strategic facilities are scattered across the breadth of Iran, and are completely camouflaged..." [6]
Further, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization spokesman Ali Shirzadian reiterated recent statements by officials, saying: "Technically speaking, we are fully prepared to produce fuel required for the Tehran reactor [i.e. uranium enriched to 20%]. To begin this, we are waiting for the order from top authorities." [7]
What Does Iran Need So Many Enrichment Facilities For?
Since Iran has no nuclear power plants except for the 1,000 megawatt light-water reactor in Bushehr (which is not operational and whose fuel is to be supplied by Russia, according to agreement [8] ), and since the construction of a nuclear power reactor is a years-long project (viz. Bushehr), and considering that Iran currently has no practical plans for building 10 to 15 nuclear reactors to produce electricity - as would be required under a comprehensive 20,000-megawatt plan - it is not clear why Iran needs 10 additional uranium enrichment facilities. This raises doubts regarding the eventual use of the quantities of uranium that Iran intends to enrich.
Endnotes:
[1] Currently, the Natanz facility has some 8,000 centrifuges, and according to statements by Iranian officials a total of 50,000 are planned for it.
[2] Fars (Iran), November 29, 2009; Tehran Times (Iran), November
[3] Mehr (Iran), November 29, 2009.
[4] Press TV (Iran), November 30, 2009.
[5] Fars (Iran), November 30, 2009.
[6] Kayhan (Iran), September 25, 2007.
[7] Tehran Times (Iran), November 29, 2009.
[8] The completion of the Bushehr reactor has been repeatedly postponed over the past decade. In mid-November 2009, the Russians again announced that for technical reasons the activation of the reactor would be delayed, and it would not happen by the end of the year as planned. The original agreement was signed by Russia and Iran in 1998. Also, under a 2005 agreement, Russia began supplying nuclear fuel for the reactor in 2007.