Reuters: Iran prepares to use advanced centrifuges at Fordow

Reuters has obtained a document from the International Atomic Energy Agency showing that Iran is preparing to use advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the Fordow site, a step that would allow Iran to enrich uranium at different levels.

Reuters has obtained a document from the International Atomic Energy Agency showing that Iran is preparing to use advanced IR-6 centrifuges at the underground Fordow site, which can enrich uranium to various levels.

According to Reuters, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in a report to member states on Saturday (June 18) that Iran is ready to feed uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas to a second cascade of IR-6 centrifuges installed at Fordow, a site dug into the mountain. The cascade, consisting of 166 machines, is the second cascade of IR-6 centrifuges installed at the Fordow site.

Reuters says Iran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday (June 20) that it had begun deactivating the cascade, a process that precedes enrichment, on Sunday. The country had previously told the agency that the two IR-6 cascades could be used for enrichment to 5 or 20 percent, but “the agency has not yet received an explanation from Iran as to what level of enrichment the cascade will be used to.”

Reuters wrote that this is the latest step that Iran had previously threatened to take, but stopped implementing until the International Atomic Energy Agency's Board of Governors overwhelmingly approved a resolution against the Islamic Republic in June of this year. In this resolution, the Board of Governors called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA without wasting time to clarify the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared locations.