Iran to start up nuclear reactor
Iranian and Russian nuclear technicians were making final preparations to start up Iran's first reactor after years of delays - an operation that will mark a milestone in what Tehran considers its right to produce nuclear energy.
Nationwide celebrations are being planned for the fuel loading at the Bushehr facility in southern Iran, while Russia pledged to safeguard the plant and prevent spent nuclear fuel from being shifted to a possible weapons programme.
"The start-up operations will be a big success for Iran," conservative lawmaker Javad Karimi said in Tehran. "It also shows Iran's resolve and capability in pursuing its nuclear activities."
The West has not sought to block the reactor start-up as part of its confrontations over Iran's nuclear agenda, a clash that has resulted in repeated rounds of UN sanctions against Tehran. Washington and other nations do not specifically object to Tehran's ability to build peaceful reactors that are under international scrutiny.
However, it is seen by hard-liners as defiance of UN Security Council sanctions that seek to slow Iran's nuclear advances - which Tehran's foes worry could eventually push toward atomic weapons.
What concerns America and others - including Russia - is Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to make fuel for nuclear arms.
Russia now must follow through with its agreements, signed by Iran, to remove all spent fuel at Bushehr and ship it back to Russia for reprocessing. That's would make it impossible for Iran to use plutonium, contained in the spent fuel, for nuclear weapons. Iran has said UN nuclear agency experts will be able to verify none of the waste is diverted.
The uranium fuel used at Bushehr is well below the more than 90 per cent enrichment needed for a nuclear warhead. Iran is already producing its own uranium enriched to the Bushehr level - about 3.5 per cent. It also has started a pilot programme of enriching uranium to 20 per cent, which officials say is needed for a medical research reactor.
President Barack Obama's top adviser on nuclear issues, Gary Samore, told The New York Times that he thinks it would take Iran "roughly a year" to turn low-enriched uranium into weapons-grade material. The assessment was reportedly shared with Israel and could ease concerns over the possibility of an imminent Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.
Iran's envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said on Thursday that any military attack against an operational nuclear power plant would be a direct violation of the UN charter. It also would likely provoke international outrage by possibly unleashing dangerous radiation.
