Iran to announce progress in nuclear project
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-08-26 14:24 TEHRAN - Iran will announce
on Saturday it has completed a new phase in its Arak heavy-water reactor plant,
a presidential official said, referring to part of the nuclear programme which
the West fears is aimed at producing bombs.
"The president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) will give a speech announcing that the
heavy-water project has become operational," an official said.
Iran is building a heavy-water nuclear reactor at Arak, 120 miles (190 km)
southwest of Tehran. Its plutonium by-product can be used to make atomic
warheads.
Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to master technology to produce
nuclear weapons. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, insists its aim
is only for peaceful electricity.
A senior Iranian nuclear official earlier this week said Iran would start up
the heavy-water production part of the project but not the reactor. He had said
this part of the project was not a proliferation risk.
A Western diplomat had agreed that heavy-water production could not be
diverted to military uses but said such a step would not be helpful amid Iran's
nuclear standoff with the West.
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