nuclear enrichment news stories on Newser

Uranium Tech Could Open Easy Path to the Bomb

Mark Russell — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 10:28:01 CDT

Advances in uranium enrichment using lasers by General Electric could allow the US conglomerate to process reactor fuel by the ton—but security experts fear the technology could also allow rogue states and terrorist groups to make bomb fuel much more easily, in smaller plants that would be much harder...

North Korea Boasts About Nuke Plant

Rob Quinn — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 03:48:40 CST

With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, North Korea has decided now would be a good time to let the world know that its nuclear program is going swimmingly. Pyongyang officials, offering the first details on what it says is a peaceful nuclear program, boasted that North Korea is building...

Iran's Uranium Could Fuel 2 Warheads: Inspectors

Kevin Spak — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 09:44:51 CDT

Iran’s uranium stockpile would be sufficient to build two nuclear warheads if Tehran was able to further enrich it, according to a new report from the International Atomic Energy Agency. But Iran’s enrichment activities actually appear to be slowing; it fed uranium into only about 43% of its centrifuges, a...

UN Thinks Iran Is Building Two Nuke Sites

John Johnson — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:49:54 CDT

Iran is apparently building two more uranium-enrichment sites and doesn't seem to care about keeping it a secret. A high-ranking Iranian official told the Student News Agency that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered the work to begin soon "inside two mountains." The interview drew little attention at first, but now UN...

Ahmadinejad, Clinton Step Up War of Words

John Johnson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:34:44 CST

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says foreign governments would "regret" imposing fresh sanctions on Iran for its nuclear enrichment. The Iranian president vowed to continue enriching uranium to the 20% purity level needed for medical research, regardless of the opinion of the international community. "If anybody seeks to create problems for Iran, our...

Ahmadinejad Sends Obama a Wake-Up Call

Kevin Spak — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:28:45 CST

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s orders to jack up Iran’s plutonium enrichment to 20% is a shot across the bow of the Obama administration, throwing serious doubts on its strategy for engaging Iran. “If this were poker, one would have to say Iran is calling Washington’s bluff,” writes Michael Adler in the Daily...

Ahmadinejad Ramps Up Iran's Plutonium Production

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:37:39 CST

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ordered his country's atomic agency today to begin the production of higher enriched uranium, in a move that's likely to deepen international skepticism about Iran's real nuclear intentions. On state television, Ahmadinejad said: "God willing, 20% enrichment will start" to meet Iran's needs. The comments fly in the...

Defiant Iran Scoffs at Sanctions

Nick McMaster — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 15:53:18 CST

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was pointless for the international community to impose sanctions against Iran. The president remained defiant as ever in the face of a global consensus against the nation's nuclear program, and said threats of isolating the country were "ridiculous." Iran is fully capable of making its own...

Iran OKs Plans for 10 Nuke Plants

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:08:45 CST

The Iranian government approved a plan today to build 10 industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion of the program in defiance of UN demands it halt enrichment. The decision comes only days after the UN nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran over its program and demanded it halt the...