U.N. Finds More Arms-Grade Uranium in Iran

Thursday, September 25, 2003

(3:01 PM ET) (19:01 GMT)

Reuters

Iran has always insisted that it did not conduct live tests of its centrifuges either at Kalaye or Natanz. But in an August 26 report, the IAEA said that a team of U.N. centrifuge experts had said Iran must have tested its centrifuges with uranium.

VIENNA, Austria -- Reuters
The U.N. nuclear watchdog has found traces of arms-grade enriched uranium at a second site in Iran, a month before a U.N. deadline for Tehran to prove it has no secret atomic weapons programme, diplomats said on Thursday.

One diplomat told Reuters the discovery could support Tehran's explanation that the discovery of highly-enriched uranium at a previous site in Iran was due to contamination from imported components.

But several other diplomats said it could support the U.S. theory that Iran has been secretly purifying uranium for use in a nuclear explosive device -- a charge Tehran denies.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the diplomats said the new traces of enriched uranium were found in environmental samples taken during inspections at the Kalaye Electric Co. on the southern outskirts of Tehran.

Earlier this year, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found traces of enriched uranium at a plant at Natanz, some 250 km (150 miles) south of the Iranian capital.

* Secret tests

(More: CNN.com World)
2003 © Reuters, Ltd.

Dan