Iran approves building 10 enrichment sites

[irishmick79]

WaPo

TEHRAN, Iran -- The Iranian government approved a plan Sunday to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion in defiance of U.N. demands it halt the program.

The decision comes only two days after the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran, demanding it immediately stop building a newly revealed enrichment facility near the holy city of Qom and freeze all uranium enrichment activities.

A Cabinet meeting headed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin building five uranium enrichment sites that have already been studied and propose five other locations for future construction within two months.

In Vienna, spokeswoman Gillian Tudor said the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency would have no comment. But the announcement is likely to stoke already high tensions between Iran and the West over its controversial nuclear activities.

Iran has one industrial-scale uranium enrichment plant near Natanz, in central Iran. The IAEA said earlier this month that about 8,600 centrifuges had been set up in Natanz, but only about 4,000 were enriching uranium. The facility will eventually house 54,000 centrifuges.

The newly revealed enrichment site, known as Fordo, is a small scale site that will house nearly 3,000 centrifuges.

IRNA said the Cabinet ordered that the 10 new sites have a scale equal to Natanz's.

In the enrichment process, uranium gas is spun in centrifuges to purify it. Enriched to a low degree, the result is fuel for a nuclear reactor - but highly enriched uranium can be used to build a warhead. The United States and its allies accuse Iran of secretly seeking to develop a bomb, a claim denied by Iran, which says it seeks only to generate electricity.

Under Iranian law, Iran's nuclear agency has been tasked with providing 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear power plants during in the next 20 years. IRNA said the country needs to build enrichment facilities to produce nuclear fuel for its future power plants.

Ahmadinejad told the Cabinet that Iran will need to install 500,000 centrifuges throughout the planned enrichment facilities to produce between 250 to 300 tons of fuel annually.

Apparently they're also looking into reducing their cooperation with the IAEA and cooperate with them only in regards to their nuclear safeguards agreements with the NPT regime.

I fear this is the beginning of the end for the international diplomatic dance with Iran.

[Sea Skimmer]

10 new sites hun, yeah that’s so blatantly for peaceful purposes that the honesty is staggering. I mean its only more then the USSR and US built together and Irans two nuclear power reactors will clearly guzzle down highly enriched fuel like an afterburner.

[cosmicalstorm]

What will happen when they test their first weapon? I personally don't buy into the idea that they'll launch it at Israel right away and commit national suicide.

[Sea Skimmer]

Course not, they’d need at least six nukes to get all the major population centers. With 11 enrichment plants operating that could take a whole extra month to build. On the plus side though as long as Iran keeps pouring its money into giant bunkers, missiles and atomic bombs the conventional side of the Iranian military and its air defenses will remain as worthless as ever.

[Ryan Thunder]

For all it will matter when they render themselves untouchable via non-conventional deterrent. Nobody is going to be willing to fuck with them if they have even tactical nukes.

[cosmicalstorm]

Course not, they’d need at least six nukes to get all the major population centers. With 11 enrichment plants operating that could take a whole extra month to build. On the plus side though as long as Iran keeps pouring its money into giant bunkers, missiles and atomic bombs the conventional side of the Iranian military and its air defenses will remain as worthless as ever.

I sense some frustration here. If you were left in charge of things, how would you deal with Iran? From what I understand any war with them right now would be a horrible mess, and war seems to be the only way to stop them.

[Starglider]

From what I understand any war with them right now would be a horrible mess, and war seems to be the only way to stop them.

An occupation would be a horrible mess. A Desert Storm style war, perhaps not.

[cosmicalstorm]

I wasn't talking about an occupation of Iran. But Iraq and Afghanistan would still be occupied.

Are there any predictions for how the civilian population in those countries would react if Iran was bombed?
And the possibility of fallout from the bombed facilites reaching many other countries in the region?
Iranian conventional forces attacking the border of Iraq?
Hizbollah shuts down half of Israel with another rocketcampaign?

That's the stuff I'm thinking about when I say 'horrible mess'.

[Atlan]

Ten new enrichment sites... From where I'm sitting in the Netherlands I can HEAR heads explode in Israel. Any plan they had for blowing up those enrichment sites has now officially gone out of the window.

[hongi]

On the plus side, Russia and China are finally getting fed up with Iran's antics and are perhaps willing to push for sanctions.

[Terralthra]

Analysts on the news I listen to pointed out that this is not the first time Iran has announced plans to build many enrichment facilities; far more than it ever actually built.