Iran has begun enriching uranium at its underground plant in Natanz with a new and improved Type II centrifuge IR-4, another violation of the 2015 nuclear agreements by Tehran.
This is reported by Reuters with reference to the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“On March 15, 2021, the Agency confirmed that Iran has begun feeding natural uranium fluoride UF6 into a cascade of 174 IR-4 centrifuges already installed at the plant,” the IAEA said in a report.
Iran said it now plans to install a second cascade of IR-4 centrifuges at the fuel enrichment plant, but installation has not yet begun.
It is also noted that Iran has increased the number of IR-2m machines, which are much more efficient than the IR-1 installed at the underground plant.
“Thus, as of March 15, 2021, Iran uses 5,060 IR-1 centrifuges installed in 30 cascades, 522 IR-2m centrifuges installed in three cascades, and 174 IR-4 centrifuges installed in one cascade to enrich natural UF6 “, — the agency quotes the report.
Recall that in February Iran began producing uranium metal, which can be used to create nuclear weapons, in violation of the 2015 nuclear agreements.
We also reported that huge hidden reserves of enriched uranium were discovered in Iran.
