Over 6000 Centrifuges Operating in Natanz

 

Tehran, Dec. 18, 09 (Hamsayeh.Net) - An Iranian nuclear official today announced the country is producing new generations of centrifuge machines, IR-3 and IR-4, for use at nuclear enrichment plants.

 

Head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency Ali Akbar Salehi said the new types are more advanced than those currently operating at Natanz enrichment facility. He also said the Natanz plant runs over 6000 active centrifuges but emphasized that Iran is not in a rush to enter the industrial scale production stage at this time.

 

Salehi estimated within 2 years the new generations of centrifuges will become operational and it is expected the efficiency of those machines would surpass the ones currently in use.

 

Centrifuge machines in nuclear technology can be used to separate the lighter U235 from the heavier U238 through supersonic spinning. Iran currently enriches uranium from 3 to 5 percent as fuel for nuclear power generators such as the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

 

Higher enriched uranium because of its very unstable nature could be utilized for building nuclear weapons however Iran as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty seeks development of its peaceful nuclear technology for generating electricity and scientific progress.   

 

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