So the IAEA has issued a report on their inspection of the recently revealed plant at Qom. (Fordow)
In a report on Monday, the IAEA said Iran's acknowledgement of the Fordow plant's existence was long overdue and "reduces confidence" that Tehran was not concealing other sites -- possibly support facilities for Fordow.
It said Iran had told the IAEA it started building the plant within a bunker beneath a mountain in the second half of 2007, but the IAEA had satellite pictures and intelligence evidence indicating construction work got under way as early as 2002.
Iran granted IAEA inspectors full access to the site on October 26-27 but not to the plant's director and original designers. The report said Iran had not yet convincingly ruled out the existence of more covert nuclear sites or plans for any.
http://www.reuters.com/...
Iranian officials have long argued that because their parliament refused to ratify the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it only has to disclose new sites to international inspectors six months before introducing nuclear material, a point disputed by agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei and the West.
But from December 2003 to February 2006, Iran was adhering to the Additional Protocol, obliging it to declare new sites immediately.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...
Yes, the canard iran has tried to foist again bites the dust. Not only is their explanation for not reporting Qom till recently - and only after they learned it had been discovered - made up out of thin air, they were adhering to the additional protocol during the time of constrution of the QOM site, so even their fabrication falls apart.
IAEA inspectors also found:
In addition, inspectors found 600 barrels of heavy water at an Iranian nuclear facility in Isfahan. The plutonium in the spent fuel of heavy water nuclear reactors can be used for nuclear bombs. The IAEA asked Iran this month to provide information about the origin of the barrels because Iran's heavy water production plant near the town of Arak is apparently not operating.
Qom would produce too little enriched uranium for Iran's civilian nuclear reactors according to analysts.
The IAEA report offered no estimate of Fordo's capabilities, but a senior international official familiar with the U.N. agency's work in Iran said it appeared designed to produce about a ton of enriched uranium a year.
The official, as well as analysts, said that would be enough for a nuclear warhead but too little for Iran's civilian reactors that have yet to come online, including the still unfinished plant at the southern port of Bushehr. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information he was citing was confidential.
"It won't (even) be able to produce a reactor's worth of fuel every 90 years, but it will be able to produce one bomb a year," said Ivan Oelrich, vice president of the Strategic Security Program of the Federation of American Scientists. "It does look strange."
http://news.yahoo.com/...
And Obama, along with Russia's president, have ratcheted up talk on applying additional sanctions due to Iran's stalling on the proposed nuclear enrichment deal which would have them send about 75 percent of their Low Enriched Uranium out of country for reprocessing.
Singapore - Both President Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday they are losing patience with Iran and want a commitment that would ease fears the Iranians are developing nuclear weapons.
After an hour-long meeting here, the two leaders warned they won't wait much longer for Iran to accept a proposal that would resolve the dispute through diplomatic means.
If Iran is defiant, Obama said, "the alternative would be an approach that would involve increasing pressure on Iran to meet its international obligations.''
Following the meeting, a White House official told reporters that Obama and Medvedev discussed possible sanctions that would be imposed if Iran refuses to comply.
http://www.latimes.com/...
And Iran continues to stonewall.
A senior adviser to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said no official response to the proposal had been announced.
"We are waiting to see how much sincerity the Western countries have in their pledges," said Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi.
Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said U.S. policy including steps to renew sanctions showed Obama was no better than his predecessor George W. Bush. The remarks in the legislature prompted lawmakers' chants of "Death to America."
Iranian officials have said Tehran prefers to buy reactor fuel from foreign suppliers rather than part with its LEU, or at most swap small amounts of LEU for the reactor material on Iranian soil. They have called for more talks.
Iran has amassed enough LEU for 1-2 bombs, analysts say, if it were further enriched to reach weapons-grade.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
swish