Iran's nuclear program is making headlines again. This time the Islamic Republic says its made more advances in uranium enrichment and the claims have many asking if Iran is planning to create a nuclear weapon.
We spoke with the Coordinator of SDSU's Nuclear Education Department, Dr. Robert McTaggart about this and before we can discuss the advances in Iran's nuclear program, we should explain what uranium enrichment is.
Dr. McTaggart says there are two types of uranium isotopes, 238 and 235. He says 235 is the isotope that can make nuclear energy, but both isotopes start off together. So you need to separate them to get enough 235 to make that energy. You can do this by putting them in centrifuges, which spin around fast enough to separate some of the heavier 238 from the 235.
Right now Iran can get to 20% 235. You need it at 90% to make a weapon.
Iran says it now has centrifuges that can spin faster, which Dr. McTaggart says can help enrich uranium more efficiently, meaning they can get to a higher level faster.
Dr. McTaggart says right now Iran's nuclear program can be used for peaceful purposes. He says, "like for using radio isotopes for nuclear medicine and for nuclear power, however, they are not being transparent about other uses of uranium that they would like to use."
Iran also says it has created nuclear fuel plates on home soil, which Dr. McTaggart says is significant, because the country could just buy that fuel from another country with nuclear capability like America. He says this is actually cheaper than creating them on your own. But because Iran is creating their own, Dr. McTaggart says that is suspicious, they could take the process much further.
Dr. McTaggart says Iran has refused to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency full access to its program, which leads some to believe the country could be trying to develop a weapon.
Dr. McTaggart says it would cost Iran a lot of money to get to the point where they could build a nuclear weapon. He also says Iran does not have access to certain technology and information to make weapons either.
Dr. McTaggart says he's not worried about Iran creating a nuclear weapon yet. He says it would be nearly impossible for the country to hide that kind of progress from the UN.
And according to the Associated Press, a senior UN nuclear expert is leaving for Iran to talk with officials there about the nuclear program. This trip is in the hopes Iran will be more open about what they're doing.
