Fordo Isotope Project to Be Launched Soon

The first phase of stable isotope production project at the Fordo nuclear site will become operational within the next couple of weeks, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said.  “The project is related to stable isotope production and [establishes] a group of research centers in Fordo. Its initial phase will be commissioned in one or two weeks but the launch of the [finalized] project will take place on April 9, 2018,” Ali Akbar Salehi was quoted as saying by ISNA on Saturday. Among the curbs Iran accepted on its nuclear program in return for relief from international sanctions under the July 2015 nuclear deal with major powers was to convert the Fordo uranium enrichment plant into a nuclear, physics and technology center. Iran launched preparations for the project in May 2016, which requires adjustments to IR-1 centrifuges to make them into stable isotope producing machines. Salehi’s spokesperson, Behrouz Kamalvandi, said in January that a deal had been signed with Moscow on the Fordo project, which would make Iran the fourth country to join the fold of elite heavy isotope producers. The Fordo nuclear facility is located 32 km northeast of the Iranian city of Qom near Fordo Village.