Man-made uranium found at 'undeclared' site in Iran – IAEA
UN nuclear watchdog says Tehran is enriching uranium at its underground Fordo facility, a move prohibited by 2015 nuclear deal, adding "uranium particles" were detected at a separate site.
A picture taken on November 10, 2019, shows an Iranian flag in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start works on a second reactor at the facility.
Iran has begun enriching uranium at its underground Fordow site in the latest breach of its deal with major powers, the UN nuclear watchdog confirmed on Monday, adding "uranium particles" were detected at a separate undeclared site in the country.
The report from the International Atomic Energy Agency [or IAEA], seen by AFP news agency, also said: "The agency detected natural uranium particles of anthropogenic origin at a location in Iran not declared to the agency."
In a quarterly report, the IAEA policing the deal confirmed Iran's announcement last week that it had begun enriching uranium at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain, something prohibited by the deal.
"Since 9 November..., Iran has been conducting uranium enrichment at the plant," said the confidential IAEA report, also obtained by Reuters.
'Uranium particles' detected
The IAEA did not identify the site in the confidential quarterly report distributed to member states on Monday.
But AFP citing sources said the IAEA took samples from the site in the Turquzabad district of Tehran in the spring.
Iran's stock of enriched uranium has increased, to 372.3 kilos, well above the deal's 202.8-kilo cap.
The maximum fissile purity to which Iran has enriched uranium so far, however, remains 4.5 percent, above the deal's 3.67percent cap but still well below the 20 percent Iran has achieved before and the 90 percent required for atomic bomb fuel.
US sanctions
Iran is contravening the deal's limits on its nuclear activities step by step in response to Washington's unilateral withdrawal from the accord last year and its renewed sanctions on Tehran.
Tehran says it can quickly undo those breaches if Washington lifts its sanctions.
Iran has continued to enrich with centrifuge machines other than its most basic model, the IR-1, which is not allowed under the deal, the IAEA report added. It has enriched with more advanced centrifuges and even installed small numbers of centrifuges not mentioned in the deal, the report showed.
Iran said last week it was working on an advanced prototype of centrifuge that could enrich 50 times as fast as the IR-1, deemed by experts as antiquated and prone to breakdown.
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