Iran has enough enriched Uranium to make Atomic Bomb.

[fede dpt]

[h1]Iran has enriched enough uranium to make bomb, IAEA says[/h1]
UN nuclear watchdog's report says Iran appeared to have slowed the rate at which enrichment capacity is expanding

• Julian Borger, diplomatic editor
• guardian.co.uk, Thursday 19 February 2009 20.13 GMT
• Article history

The UN's nuclear watchdog reported today that Iran had managed to enrich a metric tonne of low enriched uranium (LEU), which UN officials say is technically enough to build a nuclear weapon.

UN officials cautioned that there remained many practical obstacles to the production of a bomb, and pointed out that the uranium was under close surveillance, and the report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Iran appeared to have slowed down the rate at which its uranium enrichment capacity is expanding. But the report is likely to raise further the already high tensions surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme.

One respected US analyst said that the tonne milestone meant that Iran had reached "breakout capacity" - the theoretical ability to produce the 20-25 kg highly enriched uranium needed for one functioning warhead. Others were more cautious but said there was plenty more in the report to raise the level of international concern.

The IAEA said that Iran had put a roof over a "heavy-water" nuclear reactor being built near the town of Arak and was preventing agency inspectors from carrying out ground inspections, meaning that they no longer had any way of seeing what was being done at the facility, which could potentially produce plutonium.

Iran is also refusing to tell the IAEA where it is manufacturing the centrifuges used to enrich uranium, so the agency cannot confirm how many are being produced and where they are being installed.

In a separate report released at the same time, the IAEA said traces of uranium taken from the site of an alleged nuclear reactor in Syria were manmade and rejected the Syrian government's claim that the uranium had come from Israeli missiles used to destroy the site in 2007.

The report on the Dair Alzour site puts enormous pressure on Damascus as it rejects the Syrian explanation for the presence of uranium and denounces the government for its lack of cooperation with the agency's inquiry.

Together, the reports on Iran and Syria add greater urgency to international efforts to curb nuclear proliferation, and in particular, bring closer the possibility of a military confrontation between Iran and Israel, which has declared it will not tolerate Iran reaching nuclear weapons capability.

The IAEA report on Iran surprised many proliferation experts because, it recorded a dramatic jump in Iranian stockpiles of LEU at the enrichment plant at Natanz. In its last report in November, the IAEA estimated that Iran had produced 635 kg of LEU, based partly on Iranian government figures.

The agency now estimates that Iran had produced 839 kg of LEU by November, and that Iran had reported producing a further 171 kg in the following two months - a total of 1010 kg. The Iranian LEU has less than a 4% concentration of the fissile isotope Uranium 235. To make weapons grade HEU, with a concentration of 80-90%, it has to be further enriched, by being passed through massed 'cascades' of centrifuges.

"Do they have enough LEU to produce a 'significant quantity' of HEU [enough for a bomb]? Yes, if you count the U235 atoms then they do have a significant quantity of HEU," a senior official close to the IAEA said. "But it is theoretical and they would need to use their full capacity to do so. They are not there yet. If they were to build another clandestine facility, then that would be different."

The official added that: "The nuclear material has been under containment and surveillance at all times."

UN officials also stressed that the number of centrifuges at Natanz actually being used to enrich uranium had increased relatively little since the last report in November, from 3,800 to nearly 4,000. But it also found a roughly 1,500 additional centrifuges had been installed and were "under vacuum", a preparatory step before enrichment can start.

David Albright, a veteran UN weapons inspector, who now heads the independent Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington, gave a blunter assessment.

"They have reached a nuclear weapons breakout capability. You can dance about it, but they would have enough to make 20-25 kg of weapons-grade HEU," Albright said. "If they break out they will do it at a clandestine facility, not at Natanz, so you can't use Natanz as a measure of how fast they could do it. The Iranians have stopped telling the IAEA about the production of centrifuges … so the agency doesn't know how many they are making."

Another western analyst, speaking on condition of anonymity, argued that due to the wastage involved in making a first nuclear device, Iran would need a few more hundred kilograms of LEU to reach breakout capacity, but added that the country appeared "well on its way" to that milestone.

Daryl Kimball, the head of the Arms Control Association in Washington argued that Iran's LEU stockpile was not the most worrying aspect of the new IAEA report.

"The report shows that Iran is slowly amassing an LEU stockpile but that stockpile we must remember is safeguarded. Iran can't divert that quantity without being very obvious," Kimball said.
"What should be of concern is that the IAEA is becoming less able to provide an accurate picture of what is going on. We don't know where centrifuges are being manufactured and whether they are being delivered to Natanz or somewhere else. And we cannot remotely see what is happening at [a] heavy water facility under construction at Arak, and whether that is being used for peaceful purposes.


Looks like this country didn't do enough fear-mongering...

 

[swyftdahoe]

Anyways.. 2012 is coming.. we're all essentially screwed..

 

[i am furby]

Yes, but how many nukes does Israel already have?

 

[finnns2003]

I saw this on digg. Fear mongering at its best. How many thousands of nukes does the US have? They have one, we have thousands more.

Iran isn't stupid. They won't do anything.

 

[swyftdahoe]

Originally Posted by I am Furby

Yes, but how many nukes does Israel already have?

Plenty. But they're the good guys, ya know?

 

[swyftdahoe]

Originally Posted by finnns2003

I saw this on digg. Fear mongering at its best. How many thousands of nukes does the US have? They have one, we have thousands more.

Iran isn't stupid. They won't do anything.

They're not stupid. But they might be crazy. Always fear the crazies!!!

 

[jpioneer]

End well, this will not.

 

[dmxfury]

Not surprising. Heck we have gone 60+ years without any more nuclear bombs being launched I think we can keep the stream alive. Mutually assured destructionhas worked so far

 

[whiterails]

Originally Posted by I am Furby

Yes, but how many nukes does Israel already have?

Israel hasn't repeatedly and publicly stated that it intends to "wipe other nations off the map".

 

[rellnye]

All this do is set up a bilateral hegemony in the region. Israel nor Iran won't do anything stupid.

 

[DownByLaw]

Who cares, Iran is like that clown who brings a knife to a gun fight. Iran isn't moving anyone

 

[vctry20]

Fear Industry ftl

 

[kicks off]

Iran's not worry about blowing up anything but gas prices.

 

[kix4kix]

Yawn

 

[socaking]

Plenty. But they're the good guys, ya know?
Its that same talk that makes people blind to the #+$# that happens in Gaza. What makes Iran bad and Israel good anyway? Cause we only interestedin Israel because of United States stratigic gains?

 

[lrrr]

they wont launch it..theyr not stupid

 

[dakingii]

I dont think Iran will launch it. If it does i promise you Iran will be wiped off the face of the earth, literally

 

[BaltimoreLove]

they will launch it if they can do it first..

mark my words...

 

[rko2004]

They are not stupid. But CRAZY yes. Never underestimate an opponent. I hope we don't go in ANOTHER war because of this. Sheesh, just chill. SMH

 

[nychiphophippo]

Originally Posted by PeterJamesThe3rd

they will launch it if they can do it first..

mark my words...

ok Nostradamus

They are not stupid. But CRAZY yes. Never underestimate an opponent. I hope we don't go in ANOTHER war because of this. Sheesh, just chill. SMH

what do you mean by "they" and how do you know "they" are crazy

 

[spuddygunz]

FEDE YOURE FAR RIGHT NEO-CONSERVATIVE IDEALOGIES MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

WHAT IS EVEN MORE DISGUSTING IS THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF FOLKS THINK THE SAME WAY YOU DO.



HOW ELSE ARE THESE FOLKS GOING TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE TERRORIST STATE OF ISRAEL? RIDDLE ME THAT SMART GUY.


WHY ARE YOU FOLKS SO LOST? BEING ANTI-ZIONIST DOES NOT MEAN ANTI-SEMITIC BEING JEWISH DOESNT MEAN YOU CAN'T BE REASONABLE..










SMH X'S 108038430284203482304982 @ ALL ZIONISTS.

 

[renkxedik]

Originally Posted by I am Furby

Yes, but how many nukes does Israel already have?

It's not really about the possession of nuclear weapons, but the ability and the science to make such weapons. Then the technological know howto then improve upon that design

Originally Posted by Fede DPT

Israel, which has declared it will not tolerate Iran reaching nuclear weapons capability.

The whole thing is not really about Iran getting weapons, but someone within the Iranian government "leaking" thatinformation/(knowledge) to "terrorist" cells

 

[rko2004]

Originally Posted by nYcHipHopHippo

Originally Posted by PeterJamesThe3rd

they will launch it if they can do it first..

mark my words...

ok Nostradamus

They are not stupid. But CRAZY yes. Never underestimate an opponent. I hope we don't go in ANOTHER war because of this. Sheesh, just chill. SMH

what do you mean by "they" and how do you know "they" are crazy

Who are we talking about bro? I don't think Iran launch an attack from within its boarders. Anyone who is throwing out threats is crazy.Especially when it comes to ending human life.

Now I'm not saying how or if they will use it but they are stupid if they do against us.

 

[swyftdahoe]

Originally Posted by socaking

Plenty. But they're the good guys, ya know?

Its that same talk that makes people blind to the #+$# that happens in Gaza. What makes Iran bad and Israel good anyway? Cause we only interested in Israel because of United States stratigic gains?

You obviously missed the underlying political commentary. I do believe the unconditional love that Israel gets is bad in the grand scheme ofthings.

 

[mightymyt]

They also got US-made Grumman F-14 Tomcats, McDonell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, CH-53 Stallions, AH-1 Cobras, F-5 Tiger IIs, etc.....all sold before 1980. As faras Nuclear Weapons, US used to have 20,000+ nuclear warheads, but was cut down from SALT 1, SALT 2, and the Threat Reduction Program.......US has less than 10,000 left compared to Iran's which is just 1 maybe. And if you've ever heard of "Broken Arrow", US has missing Nuclear Weapons from strategicbombers crashing during air patrol or training and weapons not being recovered. There are live nuclear bombs burried somewhere in Savannah, Georgia and in theswamps of North Carolina. Anyways.....If Iran launch a missile, US has SLBMs(Submarine Launch Ballistic Missile) on station and can strike withinminutes.........and hopefully the new Missile Air Defense System works or the new 747 Airborne Laser System.