Posted on 02/22/2010 1:25:10 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Iran said on Monday it is considering plans to start building two new uranium enrichment plants from March, with the sites concealed in the mountains to avert air strikes.
The announcement from Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi comes just days after the UN nuclear watchdog raised concerns that Tehran could be building a nuclear warhead.
"Inshallah (God willing), in the next Iranian year (starting in March) as ordered by the president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad), we may start the construction of two new enrichment sites," Salehi told ISNA news agency.
He said the enrichment capacities of the new sites would be similar to the existing facility in the central city of Natanz, where Tehran is refining uranium despite three sets of UN sanctions.
According to the latest UN nuclear watchdog report, Iran has installed in Natanz 8,610 centrifuges, the device which rotates at supersonic speed to enrich uranium.
Of these, 3,772 centrifuges are actively enriching uranium under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iranian officials maintain Natanz has an annual capacity to produce about 30 tonnes of enriched uranium. According to IAEA, the Islamic republic currently has an estimated 2,065 kilogrammes (4,540 pounds) of low-enriched uranium.
Salehi said the new plants will be equipped with new generation centrifuges and the facilities would be hidden in mountains so as to protect them from "any attacks."
Washington and its ally Israel have not ruled out military strikes against Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to stop its gallopping atomic programme.
Iran is currently building its second uranium enrichment facility inside a mountain near the Shiite holy city of Qom, a development for which it was strongly rebuked by world powers in late 2009
(Excerpt) Read more at zawya.com ...
I’m sure Obama will send them a letter of congratulations.
A Look at Iran
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
Washington has not ruled out military strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites.Just as soon as the democrats can find a way to tax it.
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