Iran reported to enrich uranium at underground lab

[dipsydoodle]

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site built to withstand possible airstrikes, a leading hard-line newspaper reported Sunday in another show of defiance against Western pressure to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.

The operations at the bunker-like facility south of Tehran, reported by the Kayhan daily newspaper, are small in comparison to Iran's main enrichment site. But the centrifuges at the underground labs are considered more efficient and are shielded from aerial surveillance and protected against airstrikes by up to 300 feet (90 meters) of mountain rock.

Uranium enrichment is at the core of the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. and its allies fear Iran could use its enrichment facilities to develop high-grade nuclear material for warheads.

Iran - which claims it only seeks nuclear reactors for energy and research - has sharply increased its threats and military posturing against stronger pressures, including U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's Central Bank in attempts to complicate its ability to sell oil.

Associated Press Jan 8, 12:13 PM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=WDUN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Wind Dancer]

1. Hmm...

Here we go again.

[jody]

2. They are entitled to do that under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. nt

[Charlemagne]

3. Kayhan Daily News

according to wikipedia: Kayhan (Persian: کيهان, English: universe) is an influential newspaper in Iran. Directly under the supervision of the Office of the Supreme Leader, it is regarded to be "the most conservative Iranian newspaper."

Right. So apparently they want us to believe they are enriching uranium. Maybe it is to score points with some people in Iraq. Maybe it is to spook the US. Who knows. But this is their official propaganda wing.

Funny thing is that our fact-checking conservative friends will believe this without evening looking up the source. But, again, they are the party that does research and is not susceptible to disinformation.

[jpak]

4. but nuclear power is so safe and clean and peaceful - I don't see what the fuss is about.

oh wait...

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Drums... Drums in the deep...

War drums.

[riverwalker]

6. they have electricity too

I wonder how much technology and science we can forbid.

[dipsydoodle]

7. Diplomats confirm Iranian uranium enrichment at bunker, say work increases nuke fears

VIENNA (AP) -- Diplomats on Monday confirmed a report that Iran has begun uranium enrichment at an underground bunker and said the news is particularly worrying because the site is being used to make material that can be upgraded more quickly for use in a nuclear weapon than the nation's main enriched stockpile.

The diplomats said that centrifuges at the Fordo site near Iran's holy city of Qom are churning out uranium enriched to 20 percent. That level is higher than the 3.5 percent being made at Iran's main enrichment plant and can be turned into fissile warhead material faster and with less work.

The move was expected, with Tehran announcing months ago that it would use the Fordo facility for 20 percent production. Iran began to further enrich a small part of its uranium stockpile to nearly 20 percent as of February 2010 at a less-protected experimental site, saying it needs the higher grade material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes for cancer patients.

But with the time and effort reduced between making weapons-grade uranium from the 20-percent level, the start of the Fordo operation increases international fears that Iran is determined to move closer to the ability to make nuclear warheads - despite insistence by the Islamic Republic that it is enriching only to make reactor fuel. Its dismissal of findings by the International Atomic Energy Agency of secret experimental work on a nuclear weapons program also worries the international community.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=MABED&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT