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Iran is planning to export about 40 tons of its surplus heavy water to the US through a mediator country, an Iranian atomic official has said.

“We annually produce about 20 tons of heavy water and we sell the surplus product to our foreign customers,” IRNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Zarean, a deputy head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), as saying Jan. 12.

The US will use six tons of heavy water received from Iran in its atomic centers and the rest will be used in research institutions, according to him.

He added that the Western countries have created a consortium for producers of strategic nuclear products and Iran will be officially its member.

He further added that Iran and China are discussing a contract to redesign and rebuild the Arak heavy water reactor.

Iran removed the core of its Arak heavy water nuclear reactor and filled it with cement, Reuters reported Jan. 11.

According to a landmark nuclear deal clinched between Iran and the world powers in July 2015, removing the core of the heavy water reactor to produce less plutonium was a crucial step before relief from economic sanctions agreed under the deal.

Under the deal, Iran accepted to reconfigure the Arak heavy water reactor so it cannot produce plutonium usable for a nuclear bomb creation.

China, the United States, France, Britain, Russia and Germany have agreed to participate in the redesigning and the construction of a modernized reactor.

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