By Dr. Ludwig De Braeckeleer
Tuesday, august 29, 2006
On Saturday, President M. ahmadinejad delivered an inauguration speech to celebrate the opening of the first Iranian heavy-water production facility located at arak, 190km south-west of Tehran. He insisted that the program was for peaceful purposes.
"There are no talks of nuclear weapons in Iran," President ahmadinejad said.
On august 9th 2005, ayatollah ali Kamenei, issued a fatwa that forbids not only the use of nuclear weapons, but also the production or the stockpiling of these weapons.
"We are not a threat for any country, even the Zionist regime that is the enemy of the countries in the region," President ahmadinejad added.
"Having nuclear technology and using it is a blessing and is the right of all nations, including Iran. as the people's representative, I pursue whatever people want. Today they want to have nuclear technology and I pursue this demand and will not back down," President ahmadinejad said in his arak speech.
"The heavy-water plant one of the biggest nuclear projects in the country," said Mohammed Saeedi, the deputy head of Iran's atomic organization.
Major US newspapers covering the event over the weekend have published misleading titles.
"Iran opens plant that can produce plutonium, " wrote M. Slackman in the New York Times. "Iran opens nuclear reactor," wrote a. a. Dareini in the Washington Post." Iran opens nuclear reactor, insists it's not a threat," tirilled the LaTimes.
However, the facility inaugurated on Saturday is not a nuclear reactor. It solely produces heavy-water that will be used to cool and moderate an adjacent nuclear reactor currently under construction. The completion of this 40MW research reactor is not expected before many years. Estimates range from 2009 to 2014. Iran had announced its construction in May 2003. It is therefore old news. Moreover, the opening of the heavy-water production facility creates no immediate threat.
However, this type of reactor is particularly well suited for the production of military plutonium. all things being equal, it produces about 20% more plutonium than a Light Water Reactor. More importantly, the fuel can be reprocessed without shutting down the reactor.
The capture of a single neutron by uranium 238 nucleus leads eventually to the formation of a plutonium 239 nucleus, an isotope suitable for the construction of nuclear devices. However, the plutonium 239 can itself absorb a neutron and transmutes into plutonium 240, the presence of which complicates the fabrication of nukes and may lead to premature fission. By removing the plutonium from the fuel on a regular basis, the plutonium is less contaminated in plutonium 240.
Several countries have followed this path to build their nuclear arsenal, as a for instance, Israel. On 4 august 2005, the BBC, citing resources of the British National archives, announced that the UK had provided 20 tons of heavy water to help the Israel military nuclear program.
On august 2002, alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian dissident, revealed the existence of the arak plant, using information he had obtained from the terrorist organization MEK.
On December 12, 2002, David albright and Corey Hinderstein provided the first commercial satellite imagery of the arak site.
(http://www.isis-online.org/publications/iran/iranimages.html)
"The heavy water reactor project at arak has long been a bone of contention between Iran and some Western governments," says Pam O'Toole, a BBC regional analyst.
"The U.S. would consider Iran's announcement in charting its next steps along with that of other permanent Security Council members. This will be factored in as part of their response," said Dana Perino, the White House Deputy Press Secretary.
The construction of the arak heavy water production plant marks "another leap in Iran's advance toward a nuclear bomb," said a senior Israeli lawmaker.
"The Jewish state must prepare itself militarily," said Ephraim Sneh, an Israeli legislator.
Several Iranian public figures warn that the current hostility of the US and Israel towards Iran could actually convince the population that a military nuclear program is needed to fence off an aggression.
"Our country is confronted with illogical countries who have nuclear weapons. If they put too much pressure, our people might ask the government to produce nuclear weapons as a deterrent instrument," said Mohammad Reza Bahonar, the deputy speaker of parliament.
"It is about time for the European side to return to talks without any prejudgment ... Serious talks can lead us to reach an understanding," said Hamid Reza asefi, the Foreign Ministry spokesman.
The opening of the arak plant comes just a few days before Iran must end its enrichment program to avoid possible sanctions from the International Community. Observers believe that the opening was scheduled for later this year or even early next year, but was anticipated for political reasons.
"Iran badly wants to make the world community face the fact that it has a complete nuclear cycle this year before a decision on sanctions is taken," said Radzhab Safarov, the general director of the Moscow-based Centre for Contemporary Iranian Studies.