Iran Begins Fueling First Nuclear Reactor
By George Whitten, Worthy News Jerusalem Bureau Chief
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (Worthy News)– Russia helped Iran cross a major threshold on Saturday as it loaded its first nuclear reactor with fuel, seen by many as a significant symbol of its rejection of international sanctions designed to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb.
On Saturday, the first truckload of nuclear fuel was taken from a storage site to a fuel “pool” inside the reactor under the watchful eyes of monitors from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Over the next two weeks, roughly 80 tons of uranium fuel will be moved inside the building and then into the reactor core.
The 1,000-megawatt light water reactor is expected to begin pumping electricity to Iranian cities in two months.
IRAN MARKS HISTORIC DAY
“Despite all the pressures, sanctions and hardships imposed by Western nations, we are now witnessing the start-up of the largest symbol of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,” Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s nuclear chief told reporters on Saturday.
“I thank the Russian government and nation, which cooperated with the great Iranian nation and registered their name in Islamic Iran’s golden history,” Salehi said. “Today is a historic day and will be remembered in history.”
He went on to describe the plant as a “symbol of Iranian resistance and patience.”
PROLIFERATION RISK?
The Bushehr plant is not considered a proliferation risk by some experts, because Russia, which helped build the nuclear plant, has pledged to safeguard the site and prevent spent nuclear fuel — which could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium — from being diverted to a possible nuclear weapons program.
However, not all experts agree, as skeptics point to the years in which Iran hid the extent of its nuclear program from the IAEA.
Iran has long been suspected of wanting to build nuclear weapons, and successfully operating a nuclear reactor will be seen by many as a significant step toward to that end. However, Iran has maintained that it is developing its nuclear program for peaceful, civilian power generation, and that it has no ambitions to build a bomb.
Last week, Iran defying UN sanctions levied against it, announced its plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites inside of protected mountain strongholds over the next few years. Iran said it will begin construction of the first one in March.
ISRAEL RESPONDS
Israeli officials have expressed disappointment that diplomacy failed to stop the plant, and have warned about their concerns at the development.
“It is totally unacceptable that a country that blatantly violates decisions of the United Nations Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, and ignores its commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty charter, will enjoy the fruits of using nuclear energy,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy said.
“The international community,” he added, “must increase pressure on Iran, so that it will obey international decisions, halt its activity in the field of enrichment and construction of heavy water reactors, and will fully reply to the accusations raised against it.”
UNITED STATES TRIES TO REASSURE ISRAEL
Gary Samore, President Obama’s adviser on nuclear issues, tried to ease tensions among Israeli officials by telling the New York Times last week that the process of converting nuclear material into a weapon would take at least 12 months.
Israel has long warned that it cannot live with a nuclear-armed Iran, and there are still fears that Israel could launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran. However, if Israel bombed an operational nuclear reactor in Bushehr, it could release deadly radioactivity to the region.
AHMADINEJAD THREATENS RETALIATION
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Qatari newspaper Al-Shark on Saturday that if the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities were attacked, the response from Teheran would be “worldwide” in its scope.