U.N. Finds Uranium in Iran Enriched to Higher Level [View all]

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Source: NY Times

International atomic inspectors in Iran have detected traces of uranium enriched to levels of purity higher than the Iranians have previously disclosed, according to a new report on Tehran’s nuclear program made public on Friday.

The report, by the International Atomic Energy Agency, an arm of the United Nations based in Vienna, said its inspectors had taken environmental samples at a uranium-enrichment plant in a mountain bunker and discovered purities up to 27 percent.

While the report suggests that the finding could be an innocuous aberration, it is potentially significant because it moves Iran’s uranium enrichment closer to bomb-grade purity, even as world powers are in the midst of intensive negotiations with Tehran to go in the opposite direction.

The report said Iran had sought to explain the spike, found in February at its once-secret Fordo enrichment plant near the holy city of Qum, as possibly resulting from “technical reasons beyond the operator’s control.” But the report also said inspectors were doing more checking.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/world/middleeast/un-finds-uranium-in-iran-enriched-to-higher-level.html