Kamalvandi: 20% Enrichment, Heavy Water Reactor ‘Not Economical’

Spokesman of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) stressed that it is in the best interest of the country not to use up its limited nuclear materials, saying “producing 20 percent enriched uranium is not economically logical. We are capable of producing it if we want to but we prefer to import it instead and save up our own strategic materials.”

Kamalvandi further maintained that Iran will follow the trend in modern technology in seeking light water reactors, adding “Iran has no limitations in building heavy water reactors in future, but given the technological advances in the world, no country will ever pursue constructing a heavy water reactor because it is not economical.”

Elsewhere, he pointed to the confidential part of the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying “we have stressed to Yukiya Amano in a letter that if the confidentiality of the agreement is to be revealed, Iran’s trust in the IAEA will be broken. Despite the insistence and pressures from the US Congress, however, the IAEA chief has not given them any information because that would otherwise hurt himself.”

During a meeting with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on August 7, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told US senators he has a legal obligation to keep nuclear documents signed with Tehran confidential.

Amano traveled to the Capitol Hill to ease their concerns over the nuclear agreement that was reached between Iran and the 5+1 group of countries in July.