IAEA Reports Iran Processes Highly Enriched Uranium

Processing will provide medical isotopes

by Jason Ditz 

Posted onMarch 16, 2022CategoriesNewsTagsIran

The latest IAEA report underscores a disconnect between what Iran is accused of doing and fairly reasonable explanations of what they’re actually doing with their civilian nuclear program.

This new report is on the 60% enriched uranium, well below weapons-grade but Iran’s highest enriched level of uranium, so subsequently its always a topic spoken about with suspicion. Iran has processed a small quantity (2 kg of 33 kg stockpiled) of their 60% enriched uranium in an alternate form.

Most of Iran’s uranium is stored as hexafluoride, which is readily diluted back to lower levels of enrichment. It was expected that’s what the 60% uranium would ultimately see. Iran’s new form is less readily diluted, which is fueling complaints to the IAEA.

In reality, Iran had a use in mind, with those newly converted uranium to be used in a way that will produce Molybdenum-99, an important medical isotope for diagnostic tools.

Mo-99 is generally produced in this manner, and while other nations are trying to find alternative ways to produce it, the old method is still widely used, and Iran doing so is neither surprising nor suspicious.

https://news.antiwar.com/2022/03/16/iaea-reports-iran-processes-highly-enriched-uranium/