Salehi: Initial Steps Taken for Designing 20% Modern Fuel for Tehran Reactor

The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization announced that the organization has taken "initial steps" for the design of modern 20% fuel for use in the Tehran reactor for the "first time." Ali Akbar Salehi stated in an interview with the IRIB news agency on Sunday, January 13, that these actions have begun. He mentioned that this fuel is different from the previous 20% fuel and increases the reactor's efficiency. According to Salehi, the supply of fuel and the construction of the control room are "main bottlenecks" in the reactor's construction, and designing the reactor has become "very feasible" for Iran. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization did not provide further details about the stages of designing and producing this 20% fuel or the timeline between design and production. The United States, Israel, and their allies in the international community are concerned about the Islamic Republic's use of highly enriched uranium for building nuclear weapons under the guise of a peaceful nuclear program, a claim that Iranian officials have denied. Before the JCPOA, the Islamic Republic enriched uranium up to 3.5% and at times above 20%, but under the Vienna nuclear agreement, Iran's enrichment level is set at 3.67% for the next 15 years. According to the Vienna nuclear agreement, Iran receives 20% enriched uranium for the Tehran research reactor, which has medical and agricultural uses, from Russia. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization had previously stated that if an agreement is not reached between Iran and Europe to continue the JCPOA after the U.S. withdrawal, the Islamic Republic will enrich uranium up to 20%. In September, Salehi also reported that, at the instruction of the Supreme Leader, a "very advanced" hall for the construction of modern centrifuges has been "equipped and launched," and Iran has signed a "big contract" with a European country to "strengthen" the Tehran reactor. The head of the Atomic Energy Organization also mentioned that Iran is in the process of producing oxygen-18. He added, "We have managed to produce this oxygen with 95% purity in Arak. If the hydrolysis stage is completed, we can say we have become self-sufficient in this area and no longer need to import oxygen-18 at a rate of 25,000 to 30,000 dollars per kilogram." Salehi's statements come after he had also said in 2014, "We have successfully produced oxygen-18 for the first time." In April of that year, the oxygen-18 production unit was launched at the Khondab site in Arak. According to Salehi, this isotope is "one of the most expensive stable isotopes in the world, and its main use is in medical equipment for identifying cancer tumors."