Iran: IAEA seeks answers Nov 17, 2009
Uranium is used for fuel for civilian reactors, but in highly enriched form can also make the fissile core of an atomic bomb. In its first official report since IAEA experts inspected the Qom site last month, the watchdog said Tehran's delay in disclosure "does not contribute to the building of confidence.". (iAfrica.com)
* Iran tested warhead design: report Nov 7, 2009
Western diplomats and analysts say the sites capacity appears too small to fuel a nuclear power station but enough to yield fissile material for one or two nuclear warheads a year ... Enrichment to the 90 percent threshold provides the fissile material that detonates nuclear weapons. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World)
* UN experts visit second Iranian enrichment plant Oct 26, 2009
Enriched uranium produces fuel for civilian reactors, but in highly extended form can also make the fissile core of an atomic bomb. LATE DISCLOSURE. (Taipei Times, Taiwan)
UN inspectors conduct checks on Iran uranium plant Oct 26, 2009
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U.N. inspectors reach Iran's new nuclear site - report Oct 26, 2009
The proposal that Iran send enriched uranium abroad is also seen as a way of reducing its stockpile below the threshold needed to produce fissile material for a bomb ... Western diplomats and analysts say the site's capacity appears too small to fuel a nuclear power station but enough to yield fissile material for one or two nuclear warheads a year. (The Star Online, Malaysia)
U.N. experts in Iran to inspect new nuclear site Oct 25, 2009
Western diplomats and analysts say the site's capacity appears too small to fuel a nuclear power station but enough to yield fissile material for one or two nuclear warheads a year. The four-strong team from the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards division, led by Herman Nackaerts, who oversees the Middle East region including Iran, declined comment to reporters in Vienna before boarding their flight. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- News)
October 2009 Geology and GSA Today highlights Oct 2, 2009
5 billion years ago, fissile enriched U was abundant, enough so that even small concentrations of it would have undergone spontaneous nuclear fission. As is pointed out by authors Jay Cullen and Laurence Coogan of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, 2. (EurekAlert!)
U.S. Contemplating More Sanctions on Iran Oct 1, 2009
Tehran's acknowledgment that it has kept silent on the plant which can make both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead cores has burdened the already heated atmosphere of the crucial negotiations to the point that expectations of what would constitute success are modest. A U.S. government official confirmed to The Associated Press that commercial satellite images taken of the purported site near the holy city of Qom are generally accurate. (Fox News)
Iran's secret site is the missing piece in its nuclear puzzle Sep 30, 2009
That is because Western intelligence analysts and experts outside government have long suspected that if Iran wanted to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, it would have to do so at a hidden facility. Known Iranian nuclear sites are too closely watched to serve that purpose. (Christian Science Monitor -- World)
Iran: Ready to Defy Sep 30, 2009
The facility which is run by the IRGC could house 3,000 centrifuges, enough machines to annually produce fissile material for two bombs a year. On Saturday, Iran s spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the IRGC enrichment facility will begin to operate shortly. (Human Events Online)
Iran defiant amid new nuclear row Sep 26, 2009
We have no fears," he said, referring to calls for immediate access to the site by inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog. Mr Obama is not a nuclear expert. We have to leave it to the IAEA to carry out its duties Mahmoud AhmadinejadIranian president He justified Iran's apparent concealment of the plant by saying there were no international requirements to declare any nuclear facility until 180 days before fissile material was introduced into it. There was... (BBC News -- Africa)
West demands access to Iran's secret nuclear plant Sep 26, 2009
Furthermore, Iran told the agency that "the enrichment level would be up to 5.0 percent," which is a low level of enrichment and not sufficiently high to make the fissile material for an atomic bomb. Low enriched uranium is used to make nuclear fuel. (Channelnewsasia.com)
* A new start for non-proliferation Jul 22, 2009
Other key steps include bringing into force the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty; negotiating a verifiable treaty to end production of fissile material for use in weapons; radically improving the physical security of nuclear and radioactive materials, which is vital to prevent them from falling into the hands of terrorists; and strengthening the IAEA.. Last month, I proposed a key measure to strengthen non-proliferation to the IAEAs board of governors X establishing an IAEA bank of... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- World Business)
Perry: 'Nuclear dangers are grave, imminent' Jul 18, 2009
Obama has set the stage for real progress by his speech in Prague, his commitment to work for a new global treaty banning the manufacture of fissile material and his backing of international efforts to support a nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Perry said. If an arms-reduction treaty is signed with Russia this December, as anticipated, the next task will rounding up 67 U.S. Senate votes for confirmation, Perry said. (Palo Alto Online, CA)
* The vanishing bomb Apr 8, 2009
The main expectations are for a reduction of nuclear armaments, a cutback in the number of launch-ready warheads (de-alerting), negotiations on a Fissile Materials Cut-off Treaty, ratification of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty and other means of strengthening practical implementation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, especially its universal adoption. The time has come for a fundamental change in the proceedings of the Geneva-based Disarmament Conference, which for years has failed to meet the... (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Sports)
U.S. military chief cautions on Iran bomb quest Mar 3, 2009
The top U.S. military official said Sunday that Iran has sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon, declaring it would be a "very, very bad outcome" should Tehran move forward with a bomb ... Mullen was asked if Iran now had enough fissile material to make a bomb ... State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Sunday that it was not possible to determine how much fissile material Iran has accumulated. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Algeria Steps Up Its War Against Al-Qaeda Mar 2, 2009
U.S. Fears Middle Eastern Nation Is Getting Close To Having Enough Fissile Material To Build A Weapon. . (CBS News)
Analysis: Iran can up nuke program Feb 26, 2009
The issue has come under renewed scrutiny with the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report a few days ago on the state of Tehran's uranium enrichment program, which can create both nuclear fuel and the fissile core of warheads. It is also bound to figure in next week's deliberations of the IAEA's 35-nation board, which will focus on Iran's defiance of U.N. Security Council demands that it freeze enrichment and ease fears it seeks to make the bomb. (Rocky Mountain News)
Spent Nuclear Fuel: A Trash Heap Deadly for 250,000 Years or a Renewable Energy Source? Feb 7, 2009
There already are those who see what would be hidden inside Yucca as a resource rather than a curse after all, as much as 95 percent of the energy in fissile uranium remains in the waste. "The majority of the energy is still in the spent fuel," says Rod McCullum, director of the Yucca Mountain project at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), an industry group. (Scientific American)
