
"The mechanical tests of IR8 machine which has been made by
Iranian experts and is fully indigenized have ended and we will inject uranium
gas into a single machine within the framework of the nuclear deal in Natanz and
under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the
very near future," Zare'an said on Wednesday.
He stressed that the measure will increase the country's capability to enrich
uranium, while it also sends a message to the world powers party to the 2015
nuclear deal that any violation of the agreement could convince Iran to revive
its past nuclear operations with such a capability that it can replace the old
centrifuge machines with advanced ones.
Iran's plans to inject UF6 into IR8 machine had been earlier announced by AEOI
Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi too.
"The IR8 tests have come to an end and they will go into the stage of gas
injection in the next few weeks," Kamalvandi told reporters in a press
conference in Tehran.
The gas injection into the IR8 will be carried out under a paragraph of the
nuclear deal that allows research activities on the eighth generation of Iran's
centrifuge machines, known as the IR8.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi had also announced in August
2015 the country's plans to produce the necessary fuel for 5 to 6 nuclear
reactors using its IR8 centrifuges in the next 15 years.
"Most countries' development plans are for 10 years, but we will probably
present a 15-year nuclear development plan to the agency (IAEA), based on which
at the end of the program Iran will be producing one million SWUs (Separative
Work Unit) of nuclear fuel, which will be sufficient for running five to six
nuclear reactors," Araqchi said, addressing a parliamentary meeting.
He also said that in accordance with the JCPOA, Iran will have restriction in
manufacturing new machines for eight years, but after the 8th year based on its
own plans, Iran will begin making IR6 and IR8 enrichment machines.
"Meanwhile between the 14th and the 15th years, we will be producing one million
SWUs of nuclear fuel, keeping in mind that 190,000 SWUs of nuclear fuel is
sufficient for running one reactor and by the end of the 15th year when our IR8
centrifuges will be working at full capacity, we will be producing fuel for 5 to
6 reactors," Araqchi added.
source: fars news agency