IAEA fears Iran working now on nuclear warhead

[Golfboy]

After more than a year of doing nothing (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61H4EH20100218), it appear Obama's hand is going to be forced. Will he DO anything, or is he going to sit back and all this state sponsor of terror become a nuclear state?

In unusually blunt language surfacing under new chief Yukiya Amano, an International Atomic Energy Agency report for the first time suggested Iran was actively chasing nuclear weapons capability rather than merely having done so in the past.

The IAEA seemed to be cautiously going public with suspicions arising from a classified agency analysis leaked in part last year which concluded that Iran has already honed explosives expertise relevant to a workable nuclear weapon.

The report also confirmed Iran had produced its first, small batch of uranium enriched to a higher purity -- 20 percent.

[Theski]

and again I will ask you.. what should he do.. that doesnt end with 200 a barrel oil and a Mid east war?

[Bok_Tukalo]

Russia has already moved toward our camp on this. I believe this is pressure on China. Time for that nation to step up.

[lily]

Russia has already moved toward our camp on this. I believe this is pressure on China. Time for that nation to step up.

Beat me to it, Bok.


I'm also getting a little tired of not only being Iran's babysitter, but the World Police.

Obama doesn't play the saber rattling game.

[Shiva]

Russia has already moved toward our camp on this. I believe this is pressure on China. Time for that nation to step up.

It really irks me that we are increasingly dependent on China on so many fronts and we have so few ways to repair that relationship in ways that don't give in on our own core interests.

But perhaps China can be made to understand that it is in their interest to turn the screws on Iran regardless of the energy resources Tehran is supplying them. Because no one gains from a military conflict in Iran and the Persian Gulf.

[Bok_Tukalo]

Beat me to it, Bok.


I'm also getting a little tired of not only being Iran's babysitter, but the World Police.

Obama doesn't play the saber rattling game.

That is interesting, isn't it? Why the hell are we expected to keep Iran from being assholes?

[Shiva]

That is interesting, isn't it? Why the hell are we expected to keep Iran from being assholes?

It's personal.

They call us the Great Satan and we call them a member of the axis of evil.

Well, at least we DID give up some of the kindergarten name calling.

[Truth_and_Power]

As I understand it 20 percent is pretty much the end of any reasonable cover. Take it beyond that and you are making weapons, no question.

[Golfboy]

and again I will ask you.. what should he do.. that doesnt end with 200 a barrel oil and a Mid east war?

And I'll answer the same way I did before. He should honor his damn campaign promise to not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.
If he was unable to do that, he should not have made the promise.

Do you have a problem with holding him responsible for his promises?
Responsibility is a bitch and he's the guy who's responsible. It's time for him to step up.

[Golfboy]

Beat me to it, Bok.


I'm also getting a little tired of not only being Iran's babysitter, but the World Police.

Obama doesn't play the saber rattling game.

What game DOES Obama play? The "Draw a line in the sand and dare Iran steps over it" game, which he repeats every time they cross the line?

[Winston]

Iran has 850,000 cancer patients undergoing treatment that requires the 20% enriched uranium. They purchased their current stores from Argentina in 1993. They expect to run out sometime this year.

They have every right to enrich to that level. They are far away from a nuclear weapon. From the same author as the OP,



SO IS IRAN CLOSING IN ON A NUCLEAR WEAPON?

Not yet. Significant technical and practical hurdles remain.

Iran pledged anew to keep all enrichment work including the 20 percent project under International Atomic Energy Agency monitoring. So any illicit attempt to escalate to 90 percent enrichment would not escape notice, unless done at a secret site, for which Western intelligence services have their eyes peeled. Last year they unearthed a second embryonic Iranian enrichment site at Qom, not yet operational, that had been hidden from the IAEA since 2006.

Once Iran has produced highly-enriched uranium (HEU), it would have to be transformed from gaseous into metal form, fitted with reflectors and a trigger system, then miniaturized to squeeze into the nose cone of a Shahab-3 ballistic missile.

All of these steps could take two or more years for Iran to master, analysts estimate. U.S. intelligence chief Dennis Blair director has assessed that Iran will not be technically able to "weaponize" nuclear material before 2013.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6182LY20100209?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563

[Golfboy]

Iran has 850,000 cancer patients undergoing treatment that requires the 20% enriched uranium. They purchased their current stores from Argentina in 1993. They expect to run out sometime this year.

They have every right to enrich to that level. They are far away from a nuclear weapon. From the same author as the OP,

When are you going to quit making excuses for Iran? They have the facilities to produce 5 kg of 20% uranium per month, but can only use 1.5 kg a month. What are they going to do with the rest?

Last week the Administration told us Iran didn't have this capability. Were they uninformed, or did they lie?

[Winston]

When are you going to quit making excuses for Iran? They have the facilities to produce 5 kg of 20% uranium per month, but can only use 1.5 kg a month. What are they going to do with the rest?

Last week the Administration told us Iran didn't have this capability. Were they uninformed, or did they lie?

I got news for you Golfboy--they can't "use" any of the enriched uranium they produce. They don't even have the technology required to process that enriched uranium into fuel rods, let alone enrich it further and make it into a bomb.

The centrifuges they are running are thirty damn years old. They are highly unreliable and getting them to run in a functioning cascade has been replete with problems. Attempting to make three to five kg a month is probably what it will take to actually get 1.5kg. So lets review.

Iran can enrich uranium to twenty percent.

Iran cannot make fuel rods

Iran cannot weaponize that uranium into a functioning bomb.

Iran cannot manufacture the required trigger for a nuclear bomb.

Iran cannot condense the bomb and the trigger down to a size that they can build a dependable delivery system for the bomb.

Dude, even if my entire extended family ran off to Iran to help them, they couldn't have a functioning nuclear bomb and delivery system until well into 2013.

[jose]

IAEA Press Releases

Press Release 2010/02
IAEA Statement on Iranian Enrichment Announcement

8 February 2010 | The following is a statement attributable to IAEA Spokesperson Gill Tudor:

"The IAEA can confirm that it has received a letter from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) on 8 February 2010, in which the AEOI informed the Agency that production of less than 20% enriched uranium is being foreseen at the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz for fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor.

"IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano noted with concern this decision, as it may affect, in particular, ongoing international efforts to ensure the availability of nuclear fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor.

"The Director General reiterated the Agency´s readiness to play an intermediary role on the issue of the Tehran Research Reactor."
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2010/prn201002.html

[Theski]

And I'll answer the same way I did before. He should honor his damn campaign promise to not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.
If he was unable to do that, he should not have made the promise.

Do you have a problem with holding him responsible for his promises?
Responsibility is a bitch and he's the guy who's responsible. It's time for him to step up.

You get all your Tper's to pay for the new war.. then we can talk