Iran will increase its production of 20-per-cent enriched uranium, a spokesman for the country's National Security Council said Wednesday. Iran is producing the 20-per-cent enriched uranium for its medical reactor in Tehran but some countries fear that the process could also be used for secret military projects.
"We have until now locally produced 40 kilograms of the necessary uranium for the Tehran medical reactor and we will produce the remaining 80 kilograms by next year (March 2012) by ourselves as well," Abolfazl Zohrevand was quoted by the official news agency IRNA as saying.
The official said the country had to become self-sufficient in this regard after the West rejected co-operating with Iran in providing the fuel for the Tehran reactor. According to a plan brokered in October 2009 by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran's low-enriched uranium was to be exported to Russia for further enrichment.