22.12.2004, 22:22
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Zitat:Iran makes uranium powder but not violating nuclear freeze - diplomats
VIENNA (AFP) Dec 21, 2004
Iran is making a uranium powder that is a key first step in the enrichment process that can make nuclear weapons but is not in violation of a nuclear freeze agreed with the EU, diplomats said Tuesday.
Iran is finishing for technical reasons sensitive nuclear activities it started before the freeze began November 22, with the process going slowly due to mechanical problems but expected to be finished by February, diplomats said.
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Making the powder, uranium tetrafluoride (UF4), is as far as Iran can go in enrichment, according to the agreement reached last month with EU negotiators Britain, France and Germany and endorsed by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
UF4 is the precursor to UF6 gas that is fed into high-spinning centrifuges in order to filter out enriched uranium.
Iran caused an uproar last month when it pushed ahead with the processing of 37 tons of the uranium ore known as yellowcake into UF6 at its uranium conversion plant in Isfahan in last-minute activity ahead of striking the agreement with the European trio.
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The 37 tons of yellowcake could make enough highly enriched uranium for some three atomic bombs, experts said, but Iran processed much less than that.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran had produced ahead of the November 22 start of the freeze "3.5 tonnes of UF6 gas," not enough to make enough enriched uranium for even one bomb.
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The IAEA, which is monitoring Iran's enrichment suspension, had reported last month that Tehran indicated it would bring material at Isfahan into a "safe, secure and stable state not beyond UF4" and Iran had the right to do this, the diplomat said.
Iran was allowed to finish converting the 37 tons since it is otherwise difficult to clear the conversion machines, which are a mass of tubes and compartments, another diplomat told AFP.
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