Iran began on Friday 60% uranium enrichment, its highest level ever, Iranian officials announced.
Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said the country is enriching uranium to purity levels of 60% and 20% at the same time.
Speaking at a televised interview on Friday, Salehi said the AEOI is producing uranium enriched to 60 percent purity at a rate of 9 grams per hour.
While the cascades of centrifuge machines are producing 60% and 20% enriched uranium, the country is capable of enriching uranium to any purity level, he stated.
Salehi explained that the 60% enriched uranium would serve purposes at Tehran’s research reactor for the extraction of molybdenum, noting that it would not be used for producing fuel.
For his part, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said Tehran has produced the first quantities of uranium enriched to a purity level of 60% in the wee hours of Friday.
In a post on his Twitter account, Qalibaf said in Persian that the first product of uranium enriched to 60 percent purity has been obtained by the young Iranian scientists at 00:40 am local time, Friday, April 16.
The senior MP congratulated the “brave Iranian people” on the success, saying the Iranian nation’s determination creates miracles and foils any plot.
The AEOI began enriching uranium hexafluoride to the purity level of 60% in two cascades of newer generation of centrifuge machines a few days ago.
Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA had said that enriching UF6 up to 60% was done in two cascades of IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges in Natanz, adding, “This will improve significantly both the quality and quantity of radiopharmaceutical products.”
The move came in response to an act of sabotage that damaged a number of centrifuge machines in Natanz enrichment facility last Sunday.
Source: Iranian media