Posted without commentIran eyes nuclear options abroad
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to discuss with Arab nations a plan to enrich uranium outside the region in a neutral country such as Switzerland.
He made the announcement in an interview for Dow Jones Newswires in Saudi Arabia where he is attending a petroleum exporters' summit.
Gulf Arab states recently proposed setting up a consortium to provide nuclear fuel to Iran and others.
The scheme could allay fears Iran is enriching uranium for a nuclear bomb.
Iran has insisted that its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme is not up for negotiation.
UN sanctions
Mr Ahmadinejad's comments come after moves by Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey to facilitate talks between Iran and the US.
She said Switzerland recognised Iran's right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
"We will be talking with our [Arab] friends," Mr Ahmadinejad told Dow Jones on the sidelines of the Opec summit.
The plan suggested by the six members of the Gulf Cooperation Council foresees the creation of a multinational consortium to provide enriched uranium to power plants in Iran.
Nuclear fuel would be supplied to Iran and other Middle East states looking to build their own nuclear power programmes.
Iran is currently under limited UN sanctions for continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of UN Security Council calls to stop. The US has imposed even tougher sanctions of its own.
Western powers are concerned because, while enriched uranium is used as fuel for nuclear reactors, highly enriched uranium can also be used to make nuclear bombs.
Iran hid an enrichment programme for 18 years, so the Council says that until Iran's peaceful intentions can be fully established, it should stop enrichment and certain other nuclear activities.
Iran: Enrich uranium in a neutral nation?
Moderators: Alyrium Denryle, Edi, K. A. Pital
Iran: Enrich uranium in a neutral nation?
Iran eyes nuclear options abroad
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Sidewinder
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I think the main problem was the Iranians couldn't pay their bills, i.e., the money they owed the Russians for building a refinery or reactor (I don't remember which).DavidEC wrote:Didn't they reject the Russian offer to do this?
But having the Russians or the Chinese refine uranium for the Iranians should put the brakes on George W. Bush's plans to attack Iran... I hope.
Please do not make Americans fight giant monsters.
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
Those gun nuts do not understand the meaning of "overkill," and will simply use weapon after weapon of mass destruction (WMD) until the monster is dead, or until they run out of weapons.
They have more WMD than there are monsters for us to fight. (More insanity here.)
You're confusing two separate things. The Russians were putting on the thumbscrews over "missed payments" but the Russians had also offered (with American support) to enrich the Uranium for the Iranians back in March to avoid international sanctions and the Iranians told them to screw off over nationalistic pride.Sidewinder wrote:I think the main problem was the Iranians couldn't pay their bills, i.e., the money they owed the Russians for building a refinery or reactor (I don't remember which).DavidEC wrote:Didn't they reject the Russian offer to do this?
But having the Russians or the Chinese refine uranium for the Iranians should put the brakes on George W. Bush's plans to attack Iran... I hope.
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
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'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
'After 9/11, it was "You're with us or your with the terrorists." Now its "You're with Straha or you support racism."' ' - The Romulan Republic
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
'You're a bully putting on an air of civility while saying that everything western and/or capitalistic must be bad, and a lot of other posters (loomer, Stas Bush, Gandalf) are also going along with it for their own personal reasons (Stas in particular is looking through rose colored glasses)' - Darth Yan
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The Grim Squeaker
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Hmm, if the Iranians could get off of their nationalistic strait-jacket, and really aren't interested in doing what Ahmenijahad's blabbed about a few times then this could be a potentially fantastic development.
Nuclear power without being a (Confirmed) Nuclear power? Yes sir. (Wonder if they'll let Israel build a few plants via this program as well, if it will be in Switzerland I.E a sane country).
Still, forgive my faulty memory for nuclear affairs, but is it possible to hoard and to refine the nuclear material needed for a nuklear power plant into weapons grade fissionable material in secret? Or is it too hard /unlikely to do without being detected?
Nuclear power without being a (Confirmed) Nuclear power? Yes sir. (Wonder if they'll let Israel build a few plants via this program as well, if it will be in Switzerland I.E a sane country).
Still, forgive my faulty memory for nuclear affairs, but is it possible to hoard and to refine the nuclear material needed for a nuklear power plant into weapons grade fissionable material in secret? Or is it too hard /unlikely to do without being detected?
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Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Genius is always allowed some leeway, once the hammer has been pried from its hands and the blood has been cleaned up.
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
Any arrangement would probably involve the uranium being processed into ready-to-use fuel rods. Re-processing the rods back into pure fissionable material would require similarly obvious facilities to your bog-standard uranium enrichment plants.DEATH wrote: Still, forgive my faulty memory for nuclear affairs, but is it possible to hoard and to refine the nuclear material needed for a nuklear power plant into weapons grade fissionable material in secret? Or is it too hard /unlikely to do without being detected?
The refinement is the problem here. IIRC the material for a reactor needs to be 3.5% U-235 versus rest U-238; for a gun-type weapon, it's over 90%. To get to the latter stage requires a massive enrichment operation involving thousands or tens of thousands of centrifuges, which is difficult to hide but not impossible, because you can say you're making reactor material.
Making a gun-type weapon is difficult enough but an implosion weapon, which uses plutonium, is even more difficult and AFAIK not the sort technologically feasible in Iran.
By having a third party enrich the uranium, they can guarantee it's not going to break the 3.5% barrier and thus be impossible to enrich the uranium. There are only three principal reasons to refuse it: cost, nationalistic pride, or you're making a bomb. I sincerely doubt it's cheaper to do it in Iran (other countries have existing infrastructure and experience) and there is room for suspicion that the latter two are related.
Making a gun-type weapon is difficult enough but an implosion weapon, which uses plutonium, is even more difficult and AFAIK not the sort technologically feasible in Iran.
By having a third party enrich the uranium, they can guarantee it's not going to break the 3.5% barrier and thus be impossible to enrich the uranium. There are only three principal reasons to refuse it: cost, nationalistic pride, or you're making a bomb. I sincerely doubt it's cheaper to do it in Iran (other countries have existing infrastructure and experience) and there is room for suspicion that the latter two are related.
"Show me a commie pilot with some initiative, and I'll show you a Foxbat in Japan."