Posted on 06/25/2005 9:15:36 PM PDT by Flavius
DRIVING along the blasted sands of the Gulf coast, the pristine geometric dome of Iran’s first nuclear reactor rises amid dusty eucalyptus trees, looking for all the world as if it were a Bond villain’s hideout, writes Marie Colvin in Bushehr.
The double barrels of anti-aircraft guns pointing to the sky from their earthwork berms on the road are the first indication that the Bushehr plant is not a film set. The reactor is a focus of fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
Tehran insists the plant will be used only to generate electricity when it goes on line, scheduled for the middle of next year. The West, particularly the Americans, fear Bushehr is the visible tip of a clandestine programme.
Asadollah Saboury, vice-president of Iran’s nuclear plants programme, said the reactor would provide 1,000 megawatts of electricity — enough power for a city of 500,000. Being built by 4,000 Russians and 2,000 Iranians, it was now 84% complete.
The Russians would deliver the reactor’s fuel in the next few months, he said — a deal that President George W Bush tried to stop during his February summit with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president.
A scientist by training, Saboury sought to dismiss worries that the fuel would be diverted or that spent nuclear fuel would be reprocessed into plutonium, one of the paths to building a nuclear weapon.
“The fuel will be sealed in Russia by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” he said. “Here in Bushehr, the IAEA will open the seal and observe the fuel being put in the reactor.”
Without such controls, America has said the waste from Bushehr could be reprocessed to produce enough plutonium for several nuclear bombs a year. Washington’s fears are not unfounded. Iran recently said it had conducted experiments to create plutonium for five years longer than it had previously admitted to.
Saboury’s assurances will go only a small way towards allaying western concerns. A tense stand-off remains — Iran insists it has the right to make nuclear fuel through a second method, the enrichment of uranium.
“This is the plan of our country, to obtain the technology to produce our own fuel,” Saboury said. “We will need it for Bushehr because our contract with the Russians for the supply of fuel runs only 10 years and we intend to construct more than one (nuclear) unit.”
His insistence is far from academic. Two years ago, after a leak from an opposition group, Iran admitted it had been working secretly to enrich uranium with centrifuges at an underground site near Natanz. Such clandestine work is banned under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which Iran signed in 1968.
Washington has said that Iran was working secretly to develop a nuclear bomb; Tehran says it hid the programme because of international sanctions. The fight is central to the dispute, because centrifuge technology to enrich uranium to the low level required for nuclear fuel could readily be shifted to the higher level required for nuclear bombs.
Iran has suspended its enrichment activities while the EU3 — Britain, France and Germany — try to defuse the confrontation through negotiations, set to resume no later than August.
I think one well placed J-Dam will solve this whole problem before it begins.
US/Israeli bombing plans, also 84% complete! :)
What the heck are we waiting for?
Only force will keep us safe.
Ping
The answer to the question speaks volumes about your possible world-view.
What a bunch of B.S.!
I'm betting Isreal won't let it reach 100%.
So certain nations can have nuclear power but not Iran, yes ?
Is that what you are saying ?
Correct, Iran cannot be trusted.
Another good question might be, "If we destroy the reactor, will that action stop or delay Iran from developing nuclear weapons?" Another yet might be, "Would we be more wise to focus more on staging and developing all levels of our own anti-ballistic missile defense?"
A nation that is made up of millions of people.
Are there are any human beings in that nation who you think may be trusted ?
If I told you that there were indeed trustworthy Iranians would you believe me ?
Most definitely yes.
Do you know any Iranians personally ?
How would you describe your world-view ?
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