Iran says Arak incapable of producing nuclear bombs
By Sara Rajabova
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that the Arak heavy water plant's plutonium is not usable for producing nuclear bombs.
AEOI Director Ali Akbar Salehi said the Arak plant in central Iran is incapable of producing plutonium used in the process of making nuclear weapons, Press TV reported.
Salehi's remarks come in response to West's accusations that the Arak heavy water reactor may produce plutonium for nuclear arms.
He said the Arak 40-megawatt research reactor cannot produce plutonium that could be used to make nuclear weapons, since the plutonium will remain in the reactor's core for a year.
Salehi said plutonium used in nuclear weapons should not stay in the reactor's core for more than three or four weeks or it will get contaminated, preventing its use for the alleged military purposes.
He also said Iran does not have treatment facilities needed for purifying plutonium used in a weapons-making process.
Salehi assured concerns are groundless, since International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) cameras are installed to monitor the reactor and inspectors can visit the facility.
He further said dismantling the Arak reactor or giving up uranium enrichment is a red line which Iran will never cross.
Iran and the IAEA signed joint statement on further cooperation on Tehran's nuclear activities in the Iranian capital on November 11.
Under the agreement, Iran would, on a voluntary basis, allow the IAEA inspectors to visit Arak heavy water plant and Gachin uranium mine in Bandar Abbas, in southern Iran.
In early December, the inspectors from IAEA visited the Arak heavy-water reactor of Iran. It was the first time in more than two years that the UN nuclear agency had been allowed to visit the reactor, seen by the West as a potential source of nuclear bomb fuel.
Iran has said the Arak reactor, which uses natural uranium to produce radio medicines, is planned to gradually replace the Tehran research reactor to produce medical radioisotopes for cancer patients.
The Western countries suspect that Tehran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons capability, but Iran insists it is purely for peaceful purposes.
Tehran has rejected their allegations, arguing that since the country is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the IAEA, it is entitled to developing nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.