Iran, the US and China have set up a task force for modernization of a heavy water reactor that Tehran has undertaken to redesign under a July nuclear deal with world powers, Iran’s nuclear chief announced.
Speaking in a televised interview on Tuesday, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said he has had extensive telephone conversations with his Chinese and American counterparts earlier in the day.
He said Iran will press on with modernizing its heavy water reactor in Arak even without the cooperation of China or the US.
“We want China and the US to certify our activities in Arak,” he explained.
According to the nuclear accord, “Iran will redesign and rebuild a modernized heavy water research reactor in Arak, based on an agreed conceptual design, using fuel enriched up to 3.67%, in the form of an international partnership that will certify the final design.”
In November, the document on redesigning the Arak reactor was signed by all parties to the nuclear pact.
The deal is expected to take effect in the coming weeks.
