VIENNA (Reuters) - Iran will continue preparing raw "yellowcake" uranium for enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons, until the end of February, despite a recent pledge to freeze all such activity, diplomats said.
"The Iranians have decided to continue UF4 (uranium tetrafluoride) production until the end of February," a diplomat told Reuters. Two other diplomats in Vienna, where the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is based, confirmed the report.
UF4 is the precursor to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the gas that is fed into centrifuges which spin at supersonic speeds to purify it for use as fuel in civilian nuclear power plants or in atomic weapons. Iran recently pledged to freeze all activities linked to uranium enrichment as a confidence-building gesture.
The United States accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy program, a charge Iran denies. Washington has also told the European Union (news - web sites)'s "big three" -- France, Britain and Germany -- that Tehran has no intention of honoring its pledge to freeze enrichment work.
more:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041221/wl_nm/nuclear_iran_dcSo 3 diplomats (wonder the countries of origin)...one starts the story and 2 confirm....hmmmmm. :eyes:
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