Inspectors Find Traces of Highly Enriched Uranium at Iranian Military Site

Earlier today, an AP report surfaced that UN inspectors found traces of highly enriched uranium on equipment at Lavizan - an Iranian research center linked to the military. Some diplomats said that the density of enrichment appeared to be close to or above the level used to make nuclear warheads while others said it was below that, although higher than the low-enriched material used to generate power and heading toward weapons-grade level.

Still, they said, further analysis could show that the find matches others established to have come from abroad. In the past, the IAEA determined that earlier traces of highly enriched uranium were imported on equipment from Pakistan that Iran bought on the black market during nearly two decades of clandestine activity. While that may be the case in this instance as well, the very important question is why was equipment with traces of highly enriched uranium found at Lavizan, a former secret military site, if the Iranian nuclear program is supposed to be for entirely peaceful civilian purposes?

One of the diplomats told AP that the samples came from vacuum pumps that has various applications, including use in uranium-enriching centrifuges. Because Iran has previously denied conducting enrichment-related activities at Lavizan, the mere fact the traces came from there bolsters arguments that it has hidden parts of a program that can create the fissile material used in nuclear warheads.

Diplomats accredited to the IAEA on Friday noted that Tehran's enrichment program has progressed faster than agency experts had expected. That also suggests Iran has hidden research and development from IAEA inspectors, they said. "It certainly does reinforce the agency's suspicion that Iran has not fully declared its past enrichment research," said Iran expert Gary Samore of the MacArthur Foundation.

In 2003, Lavizan came under investigation by the IAEA and U.S. as a potential undeclared nuclear or nuclear-related site. While these investigations were ongoing the buildings were dismantled, rubble carted away, and the ground was scraped in the first few months of 2004. Below we have satellite photos of the site via ISIS as it appeared in August 2003, March 2004, and May 2004 (click to enlarge to normal size).