Feb 19, 2010 Article by Theodore Roe | 0 comments

HEU’s Mad At Iran? Russia

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran last week produced its first batch of 20% enriched uranium, constituting the country’s first batch of HEU (highly enriched uranium). HEU is used in some reactors as fuel, like fast neutron reactors and some naval reactors that power submarines. Its primary use, however, is for weapons. A typical nuclear bomb uses 85% enriched uranium or plutonium, but many experts agree that 20% enriched uranium is weapons-usable. Also, the technical skill required to get to 20% is all that is really necessary to get to 85%. It just takes more time.

So what is all this talk about enrichment anyway? Enrichment is necessary to get the fissile isotope of uranium (U-235) separated from the far more common but mostly useless U-238 isotope (though U-238 is useful for making plutonium). Basically you’ve got to refine it using a gas centrifuge. Uranium gas is pumped into a cylinder that rotates at high speed, and this action extracts the U-235 from the U-238. This takes a while, so it makes sense to build as many centrifuges as possible that can work in parallel. While reports say that Iran’s centrifuge design and capability are inferior to the West’s, improvement is happening all the time. Better and better centrifuge designs are coming online.

Then the news broke yesterday that the IAEA has concrete evidence that Iran is either currently working on or is hiding the remnants of a nuclear bomb program. These major moves by Iran show exactly how far they have come, on their own, in the nuclear game.
And boy is Russia pissed.

“For about 20 years, the Iranian leadership carried out its clandestine nuclear program without reporting it to the IAEA,” said said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov durign an interview at the Ekho Moskvy radio station in Moscow. “We are very alarmed and we cannot accept this, that Iran is refusing to cooperate with the IAEA.”

Russia’s Atomstroyexport helped build Iran’s first commercial nuclear reactor at Bushehr. I’ve detailed the wonderful deal Russia and Iran cut years ago to build a 20 plant network and have Russia handle all the spent fuel rods from the plants. Of course all this is now out the window, especially since Iran is clearly able now to generate enough fuel themselves.

So Iran doesn’t need Russia anymore. Gee, I wonder if that’s why the former superpower is angry. Iran was supposed to be Russia’s newest cash cow. Its hunger for nuclear technology, vast crude oil-based wealth and totalitarian regime looked like sweetest mix of stupidity and greed Russia could hope for. Sadly it was not the case. Now Russia is not getting the fat cash they wanted and Iran has taken their technology and built their own nuclear program.

But Ivan isn’t so easily crossed – just ask Georgia. In what I believe to be a fit of pique Russia is yet again postponing its delivery of the S-300 air defense missile system to Iran. This is supposedly due to technical issues, but it is obvious that any deployment of this system would pose a problem if it is deemed necessary to commit airstrikes against Iranian targets. Russia, for all its bluster about military options being off the table, is apparently interested in leaving its supposed ally vulnerable to a NATO or Israeli attack.

It is hilarious, though, that Russia is actually taking a harder approach towards Iran than the Europeans. Europe, that supposed super(hero)power in the European Union cape and Euro dollar mask, has only threatened to stop doing some insurance business with Iran. It isn’t even the EU that’s making this threat, rather private insurance companies that are tired of Iran’s duplicitous dealings. The EU found out Iran was blatantly lying to them about their nuclear program during talks a few years ago and did exactly nothing about it. I wonder why Iran doesn’t consider them a threat. You’ll notice there are no chants of ‘Death to The European Union’ at the state-run rallies.

The only real threat to Iran’s power is the United States, as we have annihilated two disgustingly corrupt and evil governments on either side of their pitiful country over the past decade, and Israel, who have shown they are perfectly willing to bomb another sovereign nation’s nuclear experiments. And, thanks to Russia, we both might have a chance to end this charade in Iran before it really begins.