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The key facilities of Iran's nuclear program

The key facilities of Iran's nuclear program

Donald Trump, the U.S. president, said that this week if Iran didn't reach a deal with America over its nuclear program "there would be bombing", adding Israel's threat to attack Iran nuclear facilities.

Here are some of Iran’s most important nuclear facilities.

Where are Iran's nuclear facilities?

The Iranian nuclear programme is spread out over many different locations. While Israel's airstrikes have been a threat for decades, some sites are underground.

IRAN HAS A NUCLEAR WAR PROGRAM?

The United States, as well as the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, believe that Iran had a secret and coordinated nuclear weapons program which it stopped in 2003. The Islamic Republic has denied ever possessing or planning one.

Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities as part of a 2015 agreement with world powers. In exchange, the sanctions imposed by international governments would be lifted. The pact collapsed after Donald Trump, then president of the United States, pulled out in 2018. Iran began to abandon the restrictions within the year.

IS IRAN INCREASING ITS URANIUM ENRICHMENT?

Yes. Since the deal fell apart, Iran has expanded its uranium-enrichment programme. The time it takes to reach weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear weapon is now days or a little over a week instead of a year as was the case under the 2015 agreement.

It would take more time to make a bomb using that material. The exact time frame is unclear and subject to debate. Iran enriches uranium up to 60% fissile purity, which is close to 90% weapons-grade. It has two sites where it does this. In theory, Iran could make six bombs if it enriched the material further.

NATANZ

Complex at the centre of Iran's nuclear enrichment program, located on a plain bordering mountains south of Tehran in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom. Natanz is home to two enrichment facilities: the massive, underground Fuel Enrichment plant (FEP) as well as the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plan (PFEP).

In 2002, an exiled Iranian group revealed that Iran was building secretly Natanz. This sparked a diplomatic standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear intentions. The standoff continues to this day.

The FEP is a facility designed for commercial enrichment, with 50,000 centrifuges. There are approximately 16,000 centrifuges installed, of which 13,000 are operational, and they refine uranium up to 5% purity.

The FEP is described by diplomats who are familiar with Natanz as being three floors underground. It has been debated for years about the damage that Israeli airstrikes can do.

Other means of damage to the centrifuges have been used at FEP, including an explosion in April 2021 and a power cut that Iran claimed was an Israeli attack.

The PFEP above ground houses only hundreds centrifuges, but Iran enriches up to 60% purity here.

FORDOW

Fordow, on the other side of Qom is a site for enrichment dug into the mountain. It's probably better protected against potential bombardment as the FEP.

Iran was not allowed to enrich at Fordow under the 2015 agreement with major powers. The centrifuges are mainly advanced IR-6 machines. Up to 350 of these can enrich up to 60%.

In 2009, the United States announced that Iran has been building Fordow secretly for years without informing the IAEA. Then, U.S. president Barack Obama stated: "The size of the facility and its configuration are inconsistent with a peace programme."

ISFAHAN

Iran's second-largest city, Isfahan has a major nuclear technology center on its outskirts.

The facility includes the Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant and the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF), which can convert uranium to uranium hexafluoride, which is then fed into centrifuges.

Diplomats claim that Iran stores uranium enriched at Isfahan.

There is equipment at Isfahan to make uranium metal, a process that is particularly proliferation-sensitive since it can be used to devise the core of a nuclear bomb.

Isfahan will be a new location for 2022, according to the IAEA. It has machines that can make centrifuge components.

KHONDAB

Iran has a heavy-water reactor that is partially constructed. It was originally named Arak, and it's now called Khondab. Heavy-water reactors are a risk for nuclear proliferation because they produce plutonium easily, which can be used, just like enriched Uranium, to create the core of atom bombs.

The 2015 agreement saw construction halted and the core of the reactor removed, then filled with concrete, rendering it useless. The reactor would be redesigned to "minimize the production of Plutonium and not produce weapon-grade Plutonium during normal operation". Iran informed the IAEA it planned to begin operating the reactor by 2026.

TEHRAN RESERVE CENTRE

The Iranian nuclear research facilities at Tehran include a reactor for research.

BUSHEHR

The only nuclear power plant in Iran, located on the Gulf Coast, uses Russian fuel, which Russia takes back after it has been used, reducing proliferation risks.

(source: Reuters)