Hecker described the control room as "astonishingly modern," writing that, unlike other North Korean facilities, it "would fit into any modern American processing facility."
So who dropped the Ball on this one ?
Foxnews
SEOUL, South Korea -- In secret and with remarkable speed, North Korea has built a new, highly sophisticated facility to enrich uranium, according to an American nuclear scientist, raising fears that the North is ramping up its atomic program despite international pressure.
The scientist, Siegfried Hecker, said in a report posted Saturday that he was taken during a recent trip to the North's main Yongbyon atomic complex to a small industrial-scale uranium enrichment facility. It had 2,000 recently completed centrifuges, he said, and the North told him it was producing low-enriched uranium meant for a new reactor. He described his first glimpse of the new centrifuges as "stunning."
Sunday, November 21, 2010
N. Korea Secretly Built New Nuclear Facility
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
New Momentum for Iran Sanctions
Now that Mohamed ElBaradei is no longer the Muslim in charge of inspecting muslim interests in nuclear weapons , maybe we will see a little change at the U.N security council .
Being that the IAEA never allowed the proper evidence or reports to be used as evidence against Iran , maybe China will come online with everyone else .
But that is a big maybe .
The Wall Street Journal
VIENNA—The new head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran isn't cooperating with U.N. inspectors, and Russia appeared to move closer to supporting sanctions, adding momentum to efforts at the U.N. Security Council to pressure Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano, speaking to reporters at his first scheduled news conference since he took the post in December, defended his agency's impartiality in a Feb. 18 report that said Iran may be working on a missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload.
Yukiya Amano defended his agency's impartiality in a Feb 18. report saying Iran may be working on a missile capable of delivering a nuclear payload.
More on Iran
The IAEA board of governors, which is meeting this week, is expected to recommend that the report be forwarded to the Security Council for consideration during discussions on possible sanctions.
The report and Mr. Amano's speech Monday represent a shift from the less-confrontational stance of Mr. Amano's predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, who led the agency for 12 years.
Mr. Amano said Iran is cooperating with the mandate of the IAEA to make sure no known sources of uranium are being diverted for military use. But he said there is much that Iran keeps off limits to inspectors charged with verifying whether its nuclear program is peaceful or military in nature.
The Feb. 18 report listed questions of "concern" that prevent the IAEA from declaring Iran's nuclear program to be peaceful, as Tehran claims. On Monday, Mr. Amano said the report was based on an impartial analysis of credible information from multiple sources.
Iranian Ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the findings in the report were "unjustified."
U.S. Ambassador Glyn Davies said the report presents a "factual" list of the IAEA's concerns and will "help focus Security Council Members on how far Iran has to go" to meet its international requirements.
Mr. Davies said the international community, led by the U.S., China, Russia, France, the U.K. and Germany would now need to "find new ways to change Iran's direction."
China, however, has opposed sanctions, and Russia has dragged its feet. In Paris Monday, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said Moscow was ready to consider new sanctions, but insisted that any measures not harm the Iranian population.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Ahmadinejad: Not A 'Damn Thing' Israel Can Do to Stop Nuclear Program
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said there isn't a "damn thing" Israel can do to stop its nuclear program, Reuters reported.
"The Zionist regime (Israel) and its (western) backers cannot do a damn thing to stop Iran's nuclear work," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech, according to Reuters.
Iran said Wednesday it will enrich uranium to a higher level on its own, the latest indication the country was rejecting a U.N.-backed proposal aimed at thwarting any effort by Tehran to make material for a nuclear weapon.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the comment after expressing frustration with the ongoing negotiations over the proposal that Iran exchange the bulk of its low-enriched uranium for more highly enriched fuel rods to be used in a medical research nuclear reactor.
Low-enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear energy, but enriched to much higher levels, it can be used as material for a weapon. Iran currently has one operating enrichment facility that has churned out around 3,300 pounds of 3.5 percent enriched uranium over the past years, but the country needs fuel enriched to 20 percent to power a medical research reactor.
"I declare here that with the grace of God, the Iranian nation will produce 20 percent (enriched uranium) fuel and anything it needs itself," Ahmadinejad told a cheering crowd of thousands in the central city Isfahan. "We told them, give us the 20 percent fuel (in an exchange)," he said. "But then they started adding conditions. So we said, if you want to give us the fuel we'll take it. If not, then fine and goodbye."
Ahmadinejad, in a speech Tuesday night, indicated Iran was through negotiating the nuclear issue.
"We were interested, from the beginning, in solving all the problems related to the nuclear issue," he said. "Now, the issue, in our opinion, is over."
With that kind of Attitude , Iran May be Over .
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Iran says some countries offer it nuclear fuel
Oh That Ahmadinejad ,he is such a joker !
It is not that he is saying that other countries are willing to sell Iran Uranium .
I'm Sure there are quite a few Countries that are willing to !
but the Statement of the U.S selling them the Uranium they desire ... Oh , If we wanted to.
I personally would love to give Iran the Uranium they Need ! Full weapons grade , Delivered airmail To Mahmoud's front door ! If you catch my drift !
( BUI Sarcasm )
....
TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday that some countries had offered to provide Iran with uranium enriched to 20 percent for use as nuclear reactor fuel, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Iran has always insisted on its right to carry out its own enrichment of uranium for a nuclear program which it says is for purely peaceful purposes, mainly to generate electricity. It rejects Western suspicions its real aim is to build an atomic bomb, which would require uranium enriched to around 90 percent.
"There have been some proposals by individual countries and groups of countries. We are ready to hold talks with anyone interested. Our experts will soon start talks with those sellers," Ahmadinejad said.
He said Iran could also buy nuclear fuel from the United States, its old enemy. "We want to buy fuel. We can buy it from anywhere and America can be a seller," ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Uranium enrichment is at the heart of a long standoff between Iran and the West, which took a new twist last month when Tehran disclosed the existence of a previously secret underground enrichment plant near the holy Shi'ite city of Qom.
Diplomats say it did so after learning Western intelligence services had discovered the site.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
North Korea trying to enrich uranium, South says
North Korea is just relentless in their pursuit of Nuclear weapons .
When little Kimmie kicks the bucket I'm sure that his son Kim jong-Un , will continue the pursuit of their nuclear program , that is why he would have been chosen as little kimmie's successor .
....
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears to be enriching uranium, potentially giving the state that tested a plutonium-based nuclear device in May another path for making atomic weapons, South Korea's defense minister said on Tuesday.
"It is clear that they are moving forward with it," Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee told a parliamentary hearing, adding such a program is far easier to hide than the North's current plutonium-based program.
North Korea earlier this month responded to U.N. punishment for its nuclear test by saying it would start enriching uranium for a light-water reactor.
Experts said destitute North Korea lacks the technology and resources to build such a costly civilian reactor but may use the program as a cover to enrich uranium for weapons.
North Korea, which has ample supplies of natural uranium, would be able to conduct an enrichment program in underground or undisclosed facilities and away from the prying eyes of U.S. spy satellites.
The North's plutonium program uses an aging reactor and is centered at its Soviet-era Yongbyon nuclear plant, which has been watched by U.S. aerial reconnaissance for years.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Venezuela sends uranium to Iran
"There are reports that Venezuela supplies Iran with uranium for its nuclear program...Bolivia also supplies uranium to Iran." Breitbart
JERUSALEM (AP) - Venezuela and Bolivia are supplying Iran with uranium for its nuclear program, according to a secret Israeli government report obtained Monday by The Associated Press.
The two South American countries are known to have close ties with Iran, but this is the first allegation that they are involved in the development of Iran's nuclear program, considered a strategic threat by Israel.[...]
Bolivia has uranium deposits. Venezuela is not currently mining its own estimated 50,000 tons of untapped uranium reserves, according to an analysis published in December by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Carnegie report said, however, that recent collaboration with Iran in strategic minerals has generated speculation that Venezuela could mine uranium for Iran.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Will Iran have a bomb this year?
Several think tanks, including the IISS, are predicting that later on in 09 Iran will have enough low-enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb. Although it is possible to buid a nuclear bomb with low-enriched uranium, typically around 20% U-235, you would need a lot of this stuff to reach critical mass. Even then, the bomb would be crude and inefficient.
If the report is true, the question to ask is Iran willing to wait until it has enough highly-enriched uranium to build a bomb or does it go ahead and build a crude nuke? With Obama already preparing to sit down and talk with Iran I think Iran will go with the former.SkyIran will have enough enriched uranium to make a single nuclear weapon later this year, the prestigious International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) predicts.
The think tank's Mark Fitzpatrick made the announcement at today's launch of its annual global review of military powers.
During 2009, Iran will probably reach the point at which it has produced the amount of low-enriched uranium needed to make a nuclear bomb.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Syria blames Israeli bombs for uranium traces
It's always da joooooooooooooos. Ynet NewsSyria's foreign minister suggested Wednesday that Israeli bombs may be the source of uranium traces that diplomats at the UN nuclear agency said were found at a suspected nuclear site.
There's a difference between depleted uranium and enriched uranium....
Walid Moallem said the leaks by the diplomats about the traces found at the site that was targeted by Israeli warplanes in September 2007 were politically motivated and aimed at pressuring Syria.
"No one has ever asked himself what kind of Israeli bombs had hit the site, and what did they contain?" he went on, adding that the United States and Israel had "similar acts" of using bombs containing depleted uranium in Iraq and Afghanistan.The latest nuclear accusations against Syria were disclosed by unnamed diplomats at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. They have said samples taken from a suspected nuclear site bombed by Israeli planes last year contained uranium combined with other elements that merit further investigation.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tuesday his agency is taking allegations of a secret Syrian atomic program seriously and urged Damascus to cooperate fully with his investigation. He also urged other nations with information that could help the investigation to share what they know.
Monday, November 10, 2008
IAEA reportedly finds traces of enriched uranium in Syria
The IAEA has alledgely found traces of enriched uranium at the same site which was bombed by Israeli jets back in September 2007.
"The agency clearly thinks it has something significant enough to report to put Syria on the (nuclear safeguards) agenda right after North Korea and Iran," Jerusalem PostInvestigators from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which works under the auspices of the United Nations, have found traces of enriched uranium in Syria, a potential sign that the country had been attempting to develop a nuclear program, Reuters quoted diplomats familiar with the IAEA investigation as saying.
....
According to Monday's report, the uranium was discovered at the same site which was allegedly bombed by IAF jets in September 2007. Behind the scenes, Israel has reportedly been working to convince US and other Western officials of the legitimacy of the air strike, but the findings of the IAEA investigators provide the first independent confirmation that a nuclear program had indeed been in development.
The leaked information came shortly after the IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei announced he would release a formal, written report on the subject, Reuters reported. The IAEA had no immediate comment.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Iran: Uranium Enrichment Will Continue
Threats, incentives, nothing will persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium. Recently Gordon Brown, the prime minister of Britain, announced that Britain will freeze the assets of Iran's largest bank. So Iran moves $75 billion dollars out of Europe and moves the money to Asia (China). I thought they already froze the assests when they made the announcement. Noooo, it's as if the leaders of the West want Iran to have nukes.Part of Iran's assets in European banks have been converted to gold and shares and another part has been transferred to Asian banks," Mohsen Talaie, deputy foreign minister in charge of economic affairs, was quoted as saying.
....
Iranian officials were not immediately available to comment on the report in Shahrvand-e Emrouz, a moderate weekly, which did not specify the time period for the withdrawals which it said were ordered by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"About $75 billion of Iran's foreign assets which were under threat of being blocked were wired back to Iran based on Ahmadinejad's order," the weekly said.
Europe keeps offering Iran economic incentives to stop enriching uranium but Iran consistently turns down the offers. So, what does Europe do? Send their top diplomat and offer economic incentives. Brilliant!Reuters
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday uranium enrichment was its "red line" and would continue, despite an enhanced offer of incentives from big powers to stop activity the West fears could yield nuclear bombs.
The EU's top diplomat, Javier Solana, presented Tehran on Saturday with an adjusted package of economic benefits designed to persuade it to curb its nuclear work, and said Iran should stop enrichment during negotiations to implement the offer.
"We have repeatedly said that enrichment is our red line and we should enjoy this technology. The work will be continued," deputy foreign minister Alireza Sheikhattar told reporters, according to the state news agency IRNA.
The incentive package agreed by the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany last month and delivered by Solana is a revised version of one rejected by Iran in 2006.
