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Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Iran's nuclear sites: What the US strikes hit and why they matter
The US military attacked three sites in Iran on Sunday -- Natanz, Isfahan and the mountain-buried Fordo, all key parts of Tehran's nuclear programme, which it maintains is purely for civilian purposes. American planes launched a "very successful attack", US President Donald Trump said, claiming Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated". Trump has said Tehran must never get a nuclear weapon, and ally Israel has claimed its attacks on Iran have set back the country's nuclear weapons progress by several years. Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons and maintained its right to a civilian nuclear programme. Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear programme in recent years, after a landmark deal with world powers curbing its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief began to unravel in 2018 when the United States under Trump unilaterally withdrew. Live Events As of mid-May, Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,247.6 kilograms -- or more than 45 times the limit set out in the 2015 deal -- according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Among its stockpiles, Iran has an estimated 408.6 kilograms (901 pounds) enriched to up to 60 percent -- just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. The country now theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA. Below is a list of Iran's key nuclear sites, which are subject to regular inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog: - Uranium enrichment plants - NATANZ: About 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Tehran, Natanz is Iran's heavily bunkered main uranium enrichment site, whose existence was first revealed in 2002. Natanz operates nearly 70 cascades of centrifuges at its two enrichment plants, one of which is underground. A cascade is a series of centrifuges -- machines used in the process of enriching uranium. In April 2021, the site was damaged in an attack that Iran said was an act of sabotage by Israel. Israel said its recent strikes had hit the "heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme", targeting the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists. IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed the Natanz site was "among targets". FORDO: Secretly built in violation of United Nations resolutions under a mountain near the holy central city of Qom, Fordo was first publicly revealed in 2009. Initially described as an "emergency" facility built underground to protect it from potential air attacks, Iran later indicated it was an enrichment plant capable of housing about 3,000 centrifuges. In 2023, uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent were discovered at the Fordo plant, which Iran claimed were the product of "unintended fluctuations" during the enrichment process. Trump has called it "the primary site". - Uranium conversion and research reactors - ISFAHAN: At the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan in central Iran, raw mined uranium is processed into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) and then into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a feed gas for centrifuges. The plant was industrially tested in 2004 upon its completion. The Isfahan centre also harbours a nuclear fuel fabrication facility, which was inaugurated in 2009 and produces low-enriched fuel for use in power plants. In July 2022, Iran announced plans to construct a new research reactor there. Four of its buildings have been hit by Israel since June 13, including a uranium conversion plant. ARAK: Work on the Arak heavy-water research reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of the 2015 deal. Iran has meanwhile informed the IAEA about its plans to commission the reactor by 2026. The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research and the site includes a production plant for heavy water. TEHRAN: The Tehran nuclear research centre houses a reactor that was supplied by the United States in 1967 for the production of medical radioisotopes. - Nuclear power plant - BUSHEHR: Iran's only nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr was built by Russia and began operating at a lower capacity in 2011 before being plugged into the national power grid in 2012. Russia continues to deliver nuclear fuel for the plant, which remains under IAEA control. A German company began construction on the plant with a 1,000-megawatt nominal capacity until the project was halted in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Moscow later completed it. DARKHOVIN AND SIRIK: Iran began construction in late 2022 on a 300-megawatt power plant in Darkhovin, in the country's southwest. In early 2024, it also began work in Sirik, in the Strait of Hormuz, on a new complex of four individual plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts.
Int'l Business Times
an hour ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Iran's Nuclear Programme: The Key Sites
The US military attacked three sites in Iran on Sunday -- Natanz, Isfahan and the mountain-buried Fordo, all key parts of Tehran's nuclear programme, which it maintains is purely for civilian purposes. American planes launched a "very successful attack", US President Donald Trump said, claiming Iran's main nuclear enrichment facilities had been "completely and totally obliterated". Trump has said Tehran must never get a nuclear weapon, and ally Israel has claimed its attacks on Iran have set back the country's nuclear weapons progress by several years. Iran has always denied any ambition to develop nuclear weapons and maintained its right to a civilian nuclear programme. Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear programme in recent years, after a landmark deal with world powers curbing its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief began to unravel in 2018 when the United States under Trump unilaterally withdrew. As of mid-May, Iran's total enriched uranium stockpile was estimated at 9,247.6 kilograms -- or more than 45 times the limit set out in the 2015 deal -- according to the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Among its stockpiles, Iran has an estimated 408.6 kilograms (901 pounds) enriched to up to 60 percent -- just a short step from the 90 percent needed for a nuclear warhead. The country now theoretically has enough near-weapons-grade material, if further refined, for about 10 nuclear bombs, according to the definition by the Vienna-based IAEA. Below is a list of Iran's key nuclear sites, which are subject to regular inspections by the UN nuclear watchdog: NATANZ: About 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Tehran, Natanz is Iran's heavily bunkered main uranium enrichment site, whose existence was first revealed in 2002. Natanz operates nearly 70 cascades of centrifuges at its two enrichment plants, one of which is underground. A cascade is a series of centrifuges -- machines used in the process of enriching uranium. In April 2021, the site was damaged in an attack that Iran said was an act of sabotage by Israel. Israel said its recent strikes had hit the "heart of Iran's nuclear enrichment programme", targeting the atomic facility in Natanz and nuclear scientists. IAEA head Rafael Grossi confirmed the Natanz site was "among targets". FORDO: Secretly built in violation of United Nations resolutions under a mountain near the holy central city of Qom, Fordo was first publicly revealed in 2009. Initially described as an "emergency" facility built underground to protect it from potential air attacks, Iran later indicated it was an enrichment plant capable of housing about 3,000 centrifuges. In 2023, uranium particles enriched up to 83.7 percent were discovered at the Fordo plant, which Iran claimed were the product of "unintended fluctuations" during the enrichment process. Trump has called it "the primary site". ISFAHAN: At the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan in central Iran, raw mined uranium is processed into uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) and then into uranium hexafluoride (UF6), a feed gas for centrifuges. The plant was industrially tested in 2004 upon its completion. The Isfahan centre also harbours a nuclear fuel fabrication facility, which was inaugurated in 2009 and produces low-enriched fuel for use in power plants. In July 2022, Iran announced plans to construct a new research reactor there. Four of its buildings have been hit by Israel since June 13, including a uranium conversion plant. ARAK: Work on the Arak heavy-water research reactor on the outskirts of the village of Khondab began in the 2000s, but was halted under the terms of the 2015 deal. Iran has meanwhile informed the IAEA about its plans to commission the reactor by 2026. The research reactor was officially intended to produce plutonium for medical research and the site includes a production plant for heavy water. TEHRAN: The Tehran nuclear research centre houses a reactor that was supplied by the United States in 1967 for the production of medical radioisotopes. BUSHEHR: Iran's only nuclear power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr was built by Russia and began operating at a lower capacity in 2011 before being plugged into the national power grid in 2012. Russia continues to deliver nuclear fuel for the plant, which remains under IAEA control. A German company began construction on the plant with a 1,000-megawatt nominal capacity until the project was halted in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Moscow later completed it. DARKHOVIN AND SIRIK: Iran began construction in late 2022 on a 300-megawatt power plant in Darkhovin, in the country's southwest. In early 2024, it also began work in Sirik, in the Strait of Hormuz, on a new complex of four individual plants with a combined capacity of 5,000 megawatts.
Qatar Tribune
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
Iran's Isfahan nuclear site under attack; buildings on fire in Tel Aviv
Agencies Tehran/Tel Aviv A key nuclear site in Iran's Isfahan province has come under Israeli attack, with local officials saying there were no radiation leaks. Early on Saturday, smoke could be seen rising from an area near a mountain in the city of Isfahan after Israeli air strikes hit the nuclear site overnight, triggering the air defence system. It was the second attack on Isfahan as the conflict between the Middle Eastern nations entered a second week, killing at least 430 people and wounding nearly 3,500 others in Iran, according to Iran's health ministry. No casualties were reported in the Isfahan attack, authorities said. Israel's army released video and photos, which it says show an attack on the Isfahan nuclear facility. Iran's Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian said the department is preparing to treat any victims suffering from the effects of Israel's continuing attacks on nuclear facilities. 'We have not yet received reports of Israel using unconventional weapons. We are prepared to deal with any nuclear leak in the event that nuclear reactors are targeted, and we hope we do not reach that stage,' said Jafarian. The UN nuclear agency confirmed that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site was hit. 'A centrifuge manufacturing workshop has been hit in Esfahan, the third such facility that has been targeted in Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear-related sites over the past week,' the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a statement quoting its chief Rafael Grossi. 'We know this facility well. There was no nuclear material at this site and therefore the attack on it will have no radiological consequences.' Israeli forces also hit a military installation in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz in Fars province, according to Iranian media. On the Israeli side, explosions were heard above Tel Aviv, where buildings were seen on fire. In central Israel, the emergency services released images showing fire on the roof of a multi-storeyed residential building. Local media reports said the blaze was caused by falling debris from an Iranian missile that was intercepted. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that Israel has killed Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) overseas arm, in a strike in the Iranian city of Qom.
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Israeli strikes hit Iranian reactor being built, nearby plant, IAEA says
VIENNA - Israeli military strikes hit Iran's Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor, a project under construction that had not begun operating, and damaged the nearby plant that makes heavy water, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday. Israel has struck several nuclear facilities in Iran. The heavy water reactor as originally designed would have been able to easily produce plutonium that could eventually have been used in a nuclear weapon, though Iran denies seeking such weapons. Under a 2015 deal with major powers, however, the plant was redesigned to reduce the proliferation risk and its core was removed and filled with concrete. Iran had informed the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency the reactor would start operation in 2026. "IAEA has information the Khondab (former Arak) heavy water research reactor, under construction, was hit. It was not operational and contained no nuclear material, so no radiological effects," the IAEA said in a post on X. Heavy water reactors use heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, as a moderator, a material that slows down fast-moving neutrons released during the nuclear fission process that generates heat in the reactor. In its first posting on the attack, the IAEA said it had no information indicating the nearby plant that produces heavy water had been hit. It later issued a statement revising that assessment. "While damage to the nearby Heavy Water Production Plant was initially not visible, it is now assessed that key buildings at the facility were damaged, including the distillation unit," the IAEA statement said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Qatar Tribune
5 days ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
‘Military escalation hinders Iran diplomacy'
Vienna: The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has urged parties in the Israel-Iran conflict to exercise maximum restraint and lamented the impact the fighting could have on diplomacy with Tehran. Rafael Grossi, head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), spoke on Monday at an extraordinary meeting of the agency's Board of Governors, as the fighting between the two regional powers continued for a fourth day. 'Military escalation threatens lives, increases the chance of a radiological release with serious consequences for people and the environment and delays indispensable work towards a diplomatic solution for the long-term assurance that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon,' he said. Grossi also provided an update on Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment complex, which sustained significant damage. While the underground section of the facility was not directly targeted, the equipment housed there may have suffered damage due to a power outage, he said. The radiation contamination inside the facility is hazardous but manageable with appropriate respiratory protection, Grossi said. In addition to Natanz, four nuclear sites in Isfahan were damaged in the attacks, according to Grossi. However, he noted no reported damage at the Fordo uranium enrichment plant, the Bushehr nuclear power plant, or a reactor currently under construction. (DPA)
