Iran AEOI Chief Announces 50% Increase in Yellowcake Production, 10 More Uranium Mines Set to Open by Year End

At a ceremony attended by Iranian nuclear scientists, experts and state officials, Mohammad Eslami inaugurated the yellowcake production facility in Saghand Village, Ardakan County, Yazd Province, on Thursday.

He noted that today they are seeing the execution of one of the projects outlined in the AEOI’s 20-year strategic plan, and that they have employed the heap leaching industrial mining process for the first time.

Eslami pointed out that since uranium reserves were scattered around the nation, they had come to an accord not to transfer low-density uranium ores and radioactive materials, and to refine the raw materials at their original mining sites instead.

The AEOI chief stated that Iranian scientists had developed, engineered, and produced all of the necessary equipment for the heap leaching process used to create yellowcake entirely by themselves. The entire process was homegrown.

Eslami asserted that the production of yellowcake at the Saghand facility would be increased by 50 percent, and this same increase would be seen at other uranium mines in Iran.

He stated that they intend to supply the necessary material for creating nuclear energy and furnish the nuclear fuel needed for making different radiopharmaceuticals and other civilian usages.

Eslami noted that prior to 2021, Iran had three uranium mines with only two of them in operation. A year later, five more mines were identified and put into use in Isfahan and Yazd provinces. Currently, eight mines are running, and the goal is to operate a total of ten by the end of the year.

Enriched uranium from yellow cake can be used to create fuel rods for nuclear power plants.