Iran to Produce Advanced Centrifuges in Isfahan Instead of Karaj Facility
The Iranian government has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it intends to begin manufacturing centrifuge machines at a new complex in Isfahan, replacing the TESA facility in Karaj.
The Iranian Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA), located in Karaj, came under drone attack in early June this year, which Iran attributed to Israel. Iran, which stated that IAEA cameras were also damaged in the attack, refused for an extended period to allow the installation of new cameras at the facility, and finally agreed on December 15 to permit the IAEA to install a new camera at the site.
According to Reuters, IAEA surveillance cameras were transferred from the Karaj complex to the Isfahan complex and installed on February 24, but centrifuge component production in Isfahan had not begun by that time.
Currently, the International Atomic Energy Agency does not have access to the data from these cameras, and Iran states that in case of JCPOA revival, it will allow access to the information from these cameras.
According to Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, these cameras are sealed and their data cannot be tampered with, and since they are not connected to the network, cyber attacks have no effect on them.
The American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, November 16, that Iran had resumed production of advanced centrifuges at the Karaj site and, with the recovery of centrifuge manufacturing capacity for uranium enrichment, has produced at least 170 new advanced centrifuges at the Karaj site.
Iranian media previously reported that the TESA facility in Karaj plays an important role in advancing Iran’s nuclear program through the design and manufacturing of new generation centrifuge machines that perform uranium enrichment at much higher speeds.
The IAEA’s latest report did not explain why Iran has halted the component production process at the Karaj complex.
Monitoring Iran’s nuclear program has become a controversial issue over recent months, and the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned of a repeat of the North Korea scenario, noting that this agency no longer has full monitoring of Iran’s atomic program.
IAEA inspectors were expelled from North Korea in 2009, and it is now believed that the country possesses dozens of nuclear missiles.
Rafael Grossi, also referring to existing problems concerning the Karaj nuclear facility and monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, stated that limiting the work of inspectors causes the international community’s picture of Iran’s nuclear activities to become “very blurry.”
The production of advanced centrifuges by Iran is one of the important technical axes of JCPOA revival negotiations in Vienna.
Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s representative in JCPOA revival negotiations, stated on December 13 of this year that Iran’s centrifuges must either be destroyed, transferred out of the country, or sealed.
Under the Vienna atomic agreement, known as the JCPOA, Tehran had agreed to maintain its enrichment capacity at the Natanz facility at a maximum of 5,060 machines of the old “IR-1” type over 10 years, but over the past two years Iran has begun to deviate from the JCPOA agreement and has not only increased the number of its old centrifuges but has also launched more than two thousand new and advanced centrifuges for 20 percent and 60 percent enrichment.
Source: Radio Farda
