Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC)
Want to dive deeper?
About
The TNRC houses several of Iran’s primary nuclear research facilities, including Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories, Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility, Radiochemistry Laboratories and the Tehran Research Reactor. The TNRC conducted many undeclared activities at its various laboratories, including plutonium separation, uranium conversion, laser enrichment and polonium production. 1
Enrichment
In 1991, Iran concluded a contract with China for the delivery of a Laser Spectroscopy Laboratory (LSL) and a Comprehensive Separation Laboratory (CSL), to be established at TNRC. 2 Over the course of the 1990s, Iran used 8kg of natural uranium metal in LSL and CSL experiments using the atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) method. 3 According to the IAEA, the CSL was partially operational until 1994 and Iran reached enrichment levels in milligram quantities of up to 13% with the help of foreign scientists. 4 After 1994, Iran was unable to achieve isotope separation with either the LSL or the CSL due to continuous technical difficulties. 5 Iran dismantled both the LSL and the CSL between 2000 and 2003.
Reprocessing
Between 1988 and 1993 Iran conducted undeclared reprocessing experiments with 3kg of depleted natural uranium targets, irradiated in the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR), in three shielded boxes in a hot cell at the Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC). 6 According to the IAEA, Iran separated approximately 100 milligrams of plutonium, a much higher figure than the 200 micrograms declared by Iran. 7 In late 2003, the Agency took samples from both the solution containing the plutonium and the shielded boxes used in the experiments. However, inconsistencies in the isotopic composition of the samples brought up questions about the origin of the material. 8 Iran later informed the Agency that between 1987 and 1993, it produced pellets from imported UO2, which were then converted to capsules and irradiated in the TRR. Between 1991 and 1993, Iran separated plutonium from the irradiated UO2 targets and produced plutonium solution, which was then purified in 1995 and 1998 and converted into plutonium disks for analysis. 9 The purification of the plutonium as well as the preparation of the original depleted uranium targets was conducted at Jabr Ibn Havan Multipurpose Laboratories, one of the TNRC’s associated laboratories. 10 However, the analyses of the disks did not clarify the inconsistencies and the IAEA asserted in June 2006 that it “cannot exclude the possibility…that the plutonium analyzed by the Agency was derived from source(s) other than the ones declared by Iran.” 11
Another laboratory at the TNRC that has attracted the attention of the IAEA is the Molybdenum, Iodine and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility (MIX Facility). The MIX facility is a laboratory for the production of medical isotopes from natural uranium oxide and contains hot cells that could be used for plutonium separation. 12 Iran completed construction in 2005, but the facility never became operational due to technical difficulties. 13 However, between 1987 and 1999, Iran used the uncompleted laboratory to separate Iodine-131 from small quantities of the irradiated natural uranium targets. 14
The IAEA reported in May 2013 that it had not detected any reprocessing activities at the TNRC and the MIX facility; however, it emphasized that “It is only with respect to TRR, the MIX Facility and the other facilities to which the Agency has access that the Agency can confirm that there are no ongoing reprocessing related activities in Iran.” 15
Research and Development
Iran inaugurated its first nuclear research facility in 1967. 16 The center consists of 11 departments that conduct research on most aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including departments for nuclear physics, isotope production, reactor research, analytical chemistry, nuclear electronics and fusion. 17
Weaponization
Between 1988 and 1993, Iran conducted undeclared irradiation experiments of depleted natural uranium targets in the Tehran Research Reactor at the TNRC. 18 During the same period, Iran irradiated two bismuth targets in an attempt to extract the isotope Polonium-210. 19 In conjunction with beryllium, Po-210 has applications as a neutron initiator in some nuclear weapon designs. Iran declared that the experiments were part of a feasibility study regarding the production of radioisotope thermoelectric generators. 20 The IAEA reported that it remained “somewhat uncertain about the plausibility of the stated purpose of the experiments.” 21
Glossary
- Uranium
- Uranium is a metal with the atomic number 92. See entries for enriched uranium, low enriched uranium, and highly enriched uranium.
- Enriched uranium
- Enriched uranium: Uranium with an increased concentration of the isotope U-235, relative to natural uranium. Natural uranium contains 0.7 percent U-235, whereas nuclear weapons typically require uranium enriched to very high levels (see the definitions for “highly enriched uranium” and “weapons-grade”). Nuclear power plant fuel typically uses uranium enriched to 3 to 5 percent U-235, material that is not sufficiently enriched to be used for nuclear weapons.
- Isotope
- Isotope: Any two or more forms of an element having identical or very closely related chemical properties and the same atomic number (the same number of protons in their nuclei), but different atomic weights or mass numbers (a different number of neutrons in their nuclei). Uranium-238 and uranium-235 are isotopes of uranium.
- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
- IAEA: Founded in 1957 and based in Vienna, Austria, the IAEA is an autonomous international organization in the United Nations system. The Agency’s mandate is the promotion of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, technical assistance in this area, and verification that nuclear materials and technology stay in peaceful use. Article III of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) requires non-nuclear weapon states party to the NPT to accept safeguards administered by the IAEA. The IAEA consists of three principal organs: the General Conference (of member states); the Board of Governors; and the Secretariat. For additional information, see the IAEA.
- Dismantlement
- Dismantlement: Taking apart a weapon, facility, or other item so that it is no longer functional.
- Reprocessing
- Reprocessing: The chemical treatment of spent nuclear fuel to separate the remaining usable plutonium and uranium for re-fabrication into fuel, or alternatively, to extract the plutonium for use in nuclear weapons.
- Irradiate
- Irradiate: To expose to some form of radiation.
- Medical isotopes
- See entry for Radioisotopes.
- Fuel Cycle
- Fuel Cycle: A term for the full spectrum of processes associated with utilizing nuclear fission reactions for peaceful or military purposes. The “front-end” of the uranium-plutonium nuclear fuel cycle includes uranium mining and milling, conversion, enrichment, and fuel fabrication. The fuel is used in a nuclear reactor to produce neutrons that can, for example, produce thermal reactions to generate electricity or propulsion, or produce fissile materials for weapons. The “back-end” of the nuclear fuel cycle refers to spent fuel being stored in spent fuel pools, possible reprocessing of the spent fuel, and ultimately long-term storage in a geological or other repository.
- Research reactor
- Research reactor: Small fission reactors designed to produce neutrons for a variety of purposes, including scientific research, training, and medical isotope production. Unlike commercial power reactors, they are not designed to generate power.
- Fusion
- Nuclear fusion is a type of nuclear reaction in which two atomic nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy. For a fusion reaction to take place, the nuclei, which are positively charged, must have enough kinetic energy to overcome their electrostatic force of repulsion (also called the Coulomb Barrier). Thermonuclear fusion of deuterium and tritium will produce a helium nucleus and an energetic neutron. This is one basis of the Hydrogen Bomb, which employs a brief, uncontrolled thermonuclear fusion reaction. A great effort is now underway to harness thermonuclear fusion as a source of power.
Sources
- “Nuclear Sites, Tehran Nuclear Research Center,” Institute for Science and International Security, www.isisnucleariran.org.
- Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 135.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 15 November 2004, www.iaea.org.
- “Iran Hones Laser Skills….With Uranium Enrichment in Mind?” WMD Insights, February 2006, www.wmdinsights.com.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 15 November 2004, www.iaea.org.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 15 November 2004, www.iaea.org.
- Joseph Cirincione, Jon B. Wolfsthal and Miriam Rajkumar, Deadly Arsenals (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2005), p. 302.
- Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership, (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 142.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 2 September 2005, www.iaea.org.
- “Nuclear Sites, Facilities, Tehran Nuclear Research Center," Institute for Science and International Security, www.isisnucleariran.org.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 26 April 2006, www.iaea.org.
- Anthony H. Cordesman and Khalid R. Al-Rhodan, Iran’s Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Real and Potential Threat (Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2006), p. 176.
- Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 142.
- “Nuclear Sites, Facilities, Tehran Nuclear Research Center,” Institute for Science and International Security, www.isisnucleariran.org.
- “Report on the Implementation of Safeguards in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency, 22 May 2013, iaea.org.
- Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar, The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran (New York: Basic Books, 2008), p. 84.
- Ghannadi-Maragheh, “Atomic Energy Organization of Iran," Presented at the World Nuclear Association Annual Symposium, World Nuclear Association, 4-6 September 2002.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 15 November 2004, www.iaea.org.
- Bismuth is an element not subject to IAEA safeguards. Irradiation of Bismuth produces Polonim-210. Yossi Melman and Meir Javedanfar, The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran (New York: Basic Books, 2008), p. 140.
- Yonah Alexander and Milton M. Hoenig, The New Iranian Leadership (London: Praeger Security International, 2008), p. 143.
- “Implementation of the NPT Safeguards Agreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 15 November 2004, www.iaea.org.