Tehran, Iran, January 22
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran is preparing the grounds to produce stable isotope at its nuclear facility of Fordow, according to Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi.
He said the country recently signed a contract with its old nuclear buddy Russia to make the preparations, IRIB news agency reported January 22.
According to Salehi, Iran and Russia have agreed upon a roadmap for making nuclear fuel as well, adding, “We will thus find the opportunity to get acquainted with the new technology of enriching light substances and improve upon our knowledge of centrfuges.”
Fordow was revealed in September 2009. In January 2012 the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that Iran had started producing uranium enriched up to 20% for medical purposes and that material “remains under the agency’s containment and surveillance.”
The nuclear facility in Fordow was recently equipped with state-of-the-art defense system. Shortly after receiving the first consignment of the S-300 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system in August, Iran used the Russian-made weaponry to secure the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant.
The nuclear facility can be the first project for nuclear cooperation between Iran and the European Union, the Iranian atomic chief said last April after the implementation of the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action/nuclear deal).
He then said that he had held talks with EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete on nuclear cooperation and the sides may launch cooperation to configure Fordo nuclear facility.
Under the July 2015 nuclear deal, no enrichment will be permitted at Fordo for 15 years and the facility will instead be converted into a nuclear, physics and technology center. The facility will also produce radioisotopes for use in medicine, agriculture, industry and science as 1,044 centrifuges are allowed to be installed at the site.