National
0

No Decision on Redesigning Arak Reactor

No Decision on Redesigning Arak Reactor
No Decision on Redesigning Arak Reactor

The spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on Monday that no decision has been made yet on redesigning the Arak heavy water reactor.

"The issue of redesigning has been raised (in nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers), but no agreement has been made in this regard," ICANA quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying on Sunday.

"The redesigning will be done taking into account all political and technical considerations while maintaining the function and capacity of the reactor in a way that the process causes no damage to it," he said.

The future of the planned Arak reactor is one of the major sticking points in the talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) on a final deal to resolve the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran has announced it is ready to redesign the reactor to sharply cut its potential output of plutonium.

The West says the reactor could provide a significant supply of plutonium - one of two materials, along with highly enriched uranium, that can produce a nuclear explosion.

Tehran denies the allegation that it may have been seeking to develop the capability to build nuclear weapons and says the 40-megawatt Arak reactor is intended to produce isotopes for cancer and other medical treatments.  

Elsewhere, Kamalvandi said Iran and Russia will finalize an agreement on the construction of two new nuclear power plants in the coming days.

Iran says its uranium enrichment program is meant to produce fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant and a network of planned nuclear power plants.   

 

Financialtribune.com