Iran Can Reach 190,000-SWU Enrichment Capacity in Less than 2 Years: Nuclear Chief
TEHRAN (Basirat): June, 05, 2018 Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the country is capable of increasing the level of uranium enrichment capacity to 190,000 SWU (Separative Work Unit) within one and a half to two years.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday, Salehi
highlighted the AEOI’s latest measures following an order by Leader of the
Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei for preparations for the
enrichment of uranium up to a level of 190,000 SWU without any delay within the
framework of the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA).
For the production capacity of 190,000 SWU, among other things a hall to
assemble centrifuges is needed, he said, adding that many of the preparations
for it have been made and it is hoped that the hall would be fully prepared
within one or two months.
"But this does not mean the mass production of centrifuges,” Salehi noted,
adding that facilities in this hall are in place so that if "the JCPOA
collapses, God forbid, we will not (have to) seek to build a hall (from
scratch)”.
In case the JCPOA collapses, the capacity of this hall would be such that the
country can reach the production capacity of 190,000 SWU within one and a half
to two years, the nuclear chief went on to say.
He made the remarks a day after Ayatollah Khamenei ordered the AEOI to make
preparations for the enrichment of uranium up to a level of 190,000 SWU without
any delay in the framework provided by the JCPOA.
Speaking at a ceremony held at the Imam Khomeini Mausoleum in southern Tehran on
Monday evening to commemorate the 29th anniversary of the passing away of Imam
Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Khamenei said the
Iranian nation and government cannot tolerate to be both sanctioned and be put
in the "nuclear custody”.
US President Donald Trump announced on May 8 that Washington was walking away
from the nuclear agreement.
Trump also said he would reinstate US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the
highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange
for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
Source: Tasnim
