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Nuclear Facilities

Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF)

Location: Isfahan (Esfahan)
Subordinate to: INTC, AEOI
Size: Large scale
Primary Function: Uranium conversion

Description:

In 2000 the AEOI declared the UCF to the IAEA. It is currently under construction. On 9 February 2003, the head of the AEOI stated that Iran was constructing a facility to convert yellowcake into uranium oxide, uranium hexafluoride, and uranium metal at the INTC. In July 2003, Iran revealed to the IAEA that it had obtained the designs for the UCF from abroad, and that this information was sufficient to complete a more detailed design of the facility and manufacture conversion equipment indigenously. The facility will be able to supply the 40MW heavy water reactor under construction with UO2. The expected completion date for the facility is not known.

In a letter dated 19 August 2003, Iran acknowledged that it had performed "bench scale" experiments of uranium conversion in the early 1990s. This was in contradiction to several statements made between February and July 2003 claiming that no R&D on conversion or production involving nuclear material had been conducted, even at a laboratory scale.

Key Sources:
[1]
Anthony H. Cordesman, "Iran's Search for Weapons of Mass Destruction," Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), 7 August 2003, p. 58.
[2]  "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 6 June 2003, p. 4.
[3] "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 26 August 2003, pp. 4, 8.



 

Updated January 2006



Overview
Conversion
Enrichment
Fuel Fabrication
Heavy Water Production
Milling
Mining
Nuclear Power Reactors
Reprocessing
Research and Development
Research Reactors, Critical and Sub-Critical Assemblies
Waste Management
Weaponization


Maps
U.S. and Hostile Powers: Iran
IAEA Board Welcomes EU-Iran Agreement: Is Iran Providing Assurances or Merely Providing Amusement?
IAEA Board Deplores Iran's Failue to Come into Full Compliance: Is Patience with Iran Running Out?
Iran and the IAEA: A Troubling Past with a Hopeful Future?
The Second NPT PrepCom for the 2005 Review Conference
WMD in the Middle East
Treaties and Organizations
Iranian Regime Defiant in Face of Aug. 31 Nuclear Deadline (2006)
Iran’s Nuclear Program: Recent Developments (2006)
In Focus: IAEA and Iran (2005)
Iran Proliferation Page (2005)
Iran's Game of Nuclear Poker: Knowing When to Fold (2005)
FAS: Iran Special Weapons Guide (2005)
For Tehran, Nuclear Program Is a Matter of National Pride (2005)
Curbing the Iranian Nuclear Threat: The Military Option (2004)
Iran: Countdown to Showdown (2004)
Shahab-3 (2004)
A Preemptive Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities: Possible Consequences (2004)
The Role of WMD in Iranian Security Calculations (2004)
Unclassified Report to Congress on the Acquisition of Technology Relating to Weapons of Mass Destruction and Advanced Conventional Munitions (2003)
Iran, Player or Rogue? (2003)
Iranian Missiles: The Nature of the Threat (2003)
Iran and Nuclear Weapons (2000)
Iran's Nuclear Facilities: A Profile (1998)
Iran and CBW (1998)



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CNSThis material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.

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