Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 30
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran has replaced the Canadian companies in the US heavy water market, says Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
"Earlier the US was trying to shut down Iran's heavy water plant, but now they buy its product and admit its high quality," Kamalvandi said, IRNA news agency reported Apr. 30.
The US has purchased even more heavy water from Iran compared to the amount bought from the Canadian firms, he added.
Kamalvandi also dismissed the reports which claim that Iran has sold its heavy water to the US at a low price, saying Tehran has sold the product at the market price.
Global heavy water market consists of the pharmaceutical research sector and heavy water power reactors, said Kamalvandi, adding that the quality of the heavy water used in the two sectors is different.
Iran plans to gain access to the markets that want high quality heavy water, added the spokesman.
Tehran also aims to become the biggest heavy water producer in the world, he said.
Beside the 130 tons of the heavy water that Tehran can keep for itself under the nuclear deal, the country currently has about 70 tons of surplus heavy water that will be sold in the global markets, Kamalvandi said.
Heavy water consumption globally is about 95 tons a year, of which almost 75 percent accounts for the US market, he added.
Iran produces 20 tons of heavy water per year.
Recent reports say Iran has sold 32 tons of heavy water to the United States at $8.6 million.
Before the landmark nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers was put into force in January, reports suggested that Iran had already sold 40 tons of heavy water to the US.
Iran's heavy water was tested in the States last year, with the test results putting its purity at 75.99 percent.