Iran To Start Industrial Scale Uranium Enrichment
NATANZ, Iran — Iran on Monday announced it was prepared to start "industrial scale" enrichment of uranium, expanding a key nuclear process that the United Nations has demanded it halt.
The announcement came as Iran celebrated its first success in enriching small amounts of uranium at its Natanz enrichment facility in central Iran.
"Now we are entering the mass production of centrifuges and starting to launch industrial scale enrichment, another step toward the flourishing of Islamic Iran," Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh said at a ceremony at Natanz.
Aghazadeh, who heads Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, did not elaborate. Industrial-scale enrichment is the term Iran uses to mean a capability to produce greater levels of nuclear fuel — which would suggest Iran has increased the number of centrifuges working at Natanz.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was expected to speak later at the ceremonies, and announce "good nuclear news," according to state-run TV. The Iranian press has speculated he will announce the installation of 3,000 centrifuges at Natanz.
Clearly, the U.N. sanctions were working perfectly. Oops, they were supposed to force the Iranians to stop enrichment. It's back to the drawing board for the U.N. Security Council now. My expectations that something meaningful will come out of the U.N. is abysmally low.
