Head of Atomic Energy Organization Announces Completion of Centrifuge Rotor Production Plant

Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, announced the completion of a rotor production plant for use in advanced centrifuges. This plant is capable of producing rotors needed for 60 centrifuges daily. This news comes after the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic instructed the Atomic Energy Organization to prepare for Iran's achievement of 190,000 SWU of uranium enrichment 'currently within the framework of the JCPOA' following the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement. On Wednesday, July 18, Salehi stated, 'We built this factory during negotiations instead of waiting for seven or eight years, but we did not operationalize it. However, His Excellency is fully aware, and we provided him with the necessary information at that time, and now that he has ordered it, this factory is fully operational.' Salehi described this factory as 'very advanced' and regarding its capacity, he said, 'If we want to mass-produce IR-6 centrifuges, its nominal and final capacity is to produce about 60 IR-6 centrifuges per day.' He also mentioned that the enrichment capacity using IR-6 centrifuges is 10 SWU and added that considering the daily production capacity of 60 units of this type of centrifuge, its enrichment capacity would be '600 SWU daily, 18,000 SWU monthly, and in 10 months, 180,000 SWU, which is almost the same as the targeted 190,000 SWU.' The highest official of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization also stated that the Islamic Republic 'does everything according to regulations' and 'does not do anything contrary to safeguard commitments, the additional protocol, and the JCPOA.' Salehi attributed the early preparations in the Atomic Energy Organization to experiences from negotiations in 2003 and 2004 with European countries and stated that due to 'predicted breaches of commitments and promises,' early preparations and 'the readiness for the reversibility of the nuclear industry' were placed on the agenda of this organization. On June 6 of this year, Salehi had stated that the necessary facilities for producing advanced centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear center would be ready within a month. Regarding the increase in Iran's uranium stockpile to about 900 to 950 tons, Salehi continued his remarks by stating that following the signing of the JCPOA between Iran and world powers, Tehran succeeded in increasing its uranium reserves by '400 tons.' According to Salehi, 'We previously had 550 tons of material that we had imported, and by adding 400 tons to it, the amount of uranium reserves in our country increased to about 900 to 950 tons.' He also reported on the work being done on exploration and extraction by the Atomic Energy Organization so that Iran can provide 'the annual uranium needed from domestic resources.' Salehi announced other actions of this organization following the orders of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the President of Iran as 'the launch of the UCF plant in Isfahan' and stated that 'this conversion plant was closed for 9 years and has nothing to do with the JCPOA.' He attributed the closure of the UCF plant in Isfahan to 'the lack of raw materials' and said that the increase of 400 tons of raw material to Iran's uranium reserves after the JCPOA led to the reopening of this plant. Salehi added, 'The advantage of launching this plant is that we increase our UF6 reserves, an advantage that the other side knows what it means; I will not go into this topic further.' He also announced that the design for the construction of the UF4 plant is on the agenda of the Atomic Energy Organization and added that the production plan for 'nuclear propulsion may take about 15 years.' According to the Lausanne agreement, which was a precursor to the JCPOA, the Fordow facility was supposed to be limited to scientific and research activities, and no uranium enrichment activities were to be conducted there. However, less than two months ago, Israeli media published 'new satellite images of Fordow' to show that this nuclear site had witnessed new movements in the weeks prior, including changes to its structure. Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, stated that they have 'prepared for any situation and are just waiting for orders to act accordingly.' This reiterates Salehi's statement that in the event of a breakdown of the nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic could resume 20% enrichment at the Fordow site within four days, a claim that at least one expert has called 'exaggeration.'