AFP: The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said his country had 250 tons of nuclear feedstock for uranium enrichment, the student news agency ISNA reported Thursday. TEHRAN, Jan 5, 2007 (AFP) – The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said his country had 250 tons of nuclear feedstock for uranium enrichment, the student news agency ISNA reported Thursday.
“Today our country has more than 250 tons of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) kept in tunnels rarely seen in the world,” Gholamreza Aghazadeh said of the feedstock, which is injected into centrifuges to make enriched uranium.
Iran said in April it had stockpiled 110 tons of UF6 gas produced in a conversion facility in the central city of Isfahan.
The UN Security Council voted unanimously on December 23 to impose sanctions on Iran after it refused to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment work which can make nuclear fuel but also the fissile core of an atom bomb.
The West fears Iran is secretly seeking to develop weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran vehemently denies the charges, insisting it only wants to generate energy.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday vowed that Iran would step up its atomic program despite UN sanctions, predicting Tehran would soon launch production of nuclear fuel for industrial uses.
