Vienna: The UN’s nuclear watchdog said Tuesday that Iran’s stock of heavy water for reactors has surpassed the limit set under its agreement with world powers.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement that Iran’s heavy water production plant was in operation and that its stock of heavy water reserves was 131.5 tonnes, above the 130-tonne limit.
“The Agency verified November 17 that the Heavy Water Production Plant (HWPP) was in operation and that Iran’s stock of heavy water was 131.5 metric tonne,” said in IAEA spokesperson here.
Heavy water is not itself radioactive but is used in nuclear reactors to absorb neutrons from nuclear fission. Heavy water reactors can be used to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons as an alternative to enriched uranium.
It was the first time the agency has recorded a volume greater than the level agreed upon as part of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) reached in 2015 with Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States and the European Union.
The US unilaterally withdrew from it last year, after which Iran began reducing its commitments in a bid to win concessions from those still party to the accord.
In a separate development Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday in Washington that the US will lift sanctions waivers on Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant. He cited the resumption of uranium enrichment activities at the site already announced by Tehran.
“The United States will terminate the sanctions waiver related to the nuclear facility at Fordow effective December 15, 2019,” Pompeo told a news conference.
Earlier this month, the IAEA said that uranium particles had been detected at an undeclared site in Iran. The report also confirmed that Iran has ramped up uranium enrichment in breach of the 2015 deal, feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into previously mothballed enrichment centrifuges at Fordow, an underground plant south of Tehran.
AFP