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Report: Iran's uranium supply could run out within months
Western powers believe that Iran's supply of yellow cake uranium, the material required to manufacture nuclear weapons, could run out within months, the Times of London reported on Saturday. The British newspaper reported that countries including Britain, the United States, France and Germany have all launched intensive diplomatic efforts to dissuade major uranium producers from selling to Iran. According to the report, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office sent out a confidential request to its diplomats in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Brazil, all major uranium producers, requesting that they lobby governments not to sell uranium to Iran. The enriched uranium required for use in nuclear reactors or weapons is produced in centrifuges that spin uranium hexafluoride gas (UF6) at high speeds. The UF6 is derived in a chemical reaction from yellow cake, a concentrate obtained from mined uranium ore. The international effort to limit Iran's uranium supply reflects a growing concern that 2009 could be a crucial year with regard to Iran's nuclear ambitions. The assessment that Iran is likely to produce its first bomb during 2009 or in early 2010 was has been reaffirmed by Israel's military intelligence and the Mossad. Sources said that while unlikely to cripple any effort to develop an atomic bomb, limiting Iran's yellow cake supply would help to contain the threat. A spokesperson for Britain's Foreign Office declined to confirm the Times report but said, "It's essential to dissuade Iran from progressing towards the technology for a nuclear bomb. This risks sparking off a regional nuclear arms race. In a region which already faces huge security and other challenges, nuclear proliferation would be disastrous for stability." Iran has always claimed that its nuclear program is peaceful. However, Western governments accuse Tehran of trying to acquire nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear energy program. Iran denies the accusation and says it only wants nuclear power in order to generate electricity. The World Nuclear Association lists the top 10 uranium mining nations in 2007 as Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Niger, Namibia, Uzbekistan, the United States, Ukraine and China. Brazil was 13th. The Times said the Democratic Republic of Congo, where fighting and smuggling are rife, was another potential source of supply that troubles Western nations and the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Posted by: Fred 2009-01-25 |
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