Iran elaborates future nuclear programs, goals

An Iranian nuclear official foresees the future of Tehran’s atomic program by elaborating on its short-term plans, long-term goals and safety outlook.

In a recent interview, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi explained Tehran’s plans for the Fordo site, the country’s expectations about how nuclear technology would develop in the next four or five decades and its approach to safety issues.

Salehi told Iran’s Channel 2 state television that the Organization hopes to install a new generation of centrifuges at the Fordo facility situated to the southwest of Tehran.

“Brazilian centrifuge machines have a capacity of 10 SWU (separative work units) their European counterparts have a capacity of 30-40.”

“Although it has not yet mass produced, the Americans claim that they have built a centrifuge machine with a capacity of over 300 SWU. This shows that human knowledge is constantly growing,” Salehi said during the Sunday night interview.

“During the past few months, we have also focused most of our efforts on developing new high-efficiency machines that can be manufactured at home without the use of any imported parts. We hope to install the new centrifuges at the Fordo site,” he added.

The high-ranking nuclear official also described peaceful nuclear work as a necessity, saying that it was a “launch-pad” for future progress in the field of energy production.

“Constructing nuclear plants is the first step towards building fusion plants which will emerge in the future,” said Salehi.

“If we do not enter the domain today we will not be able to take a leap and cross over to the field of fusion plants, which will be the technology of the next 40 to 50 years. We have to reach that stage gradually.

“Fusion energy is a never-ending source of energy, or, in other words, the mankind’s final answer to the problem of acquiring energy. On its future horizons, Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization sees a day when it will obtain that source of energy.”

The newly appointed Iranian nuclear chief also went into detail about how the Islamic Republic plans to ensure the safety of its atomic facilities in the future and said that the issue was an absolute priority for the Organization.

Salehi expressed hope that the nuclear safety system in place in Iran would finally gain independence from the Organization.

“The country’s nuclear bill has been drawn up according to the [International Atomic Energy] Agency’s recommendations and in a similar fashion to other country’s regulations.

“It will soon be presented to the cabinet and later passed onto the parliament for approval. The bill asserts that the nuclear safety system must be strengthened and given full independence.”