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• Iranian move for higher enrichment

  Iranian engineers may begin to enrich uranium to a higher level in order to refuel an important research reactor in Tehran. The order was given as the latest move in the strategic battle over nuclear capabilities. Posted Feb 08 2010, 11:58 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Uranium, Iran, safety, enrichment, sanctions, tehran

• Iranian reactor completes latest pre-start tests

  Hydraulic testing of the secondary circuit at Iran's Bushehr reactor has been completed, taking the plant a step closer to its long-awaited start-up. Posted Jan 12 2010, 10:52 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran, reactor, nuclear, testing, start up, bushehr, hydraulic

• Escalation of Iranian nuclear tension

  The situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program grew dramatically more tense after the country reacted to a new resolution by announcing ten new enrichment plants. Posted Nov 30 2009, 10:18 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: IAEA, Iran, safety, enrichment, policy, international atomic Energy Agency, middle east

• Safeguards frustration

  Inspectors still have lots of questions for Iran, even after full access to the newly revealed enrichment facility at Qom. Meanwhile, the country is being slow to agree a fuel deal and Syria is ignoring questions on its programs. Posted Nov 17 2009, 10:33 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran, Syria, fuel, enrichment, Politics, inspectors, qom

• Step up in cooperation

  International nuclear inspectors are now at Qom, the newly disclosed uranium enrichment site in Iran. The departure of the inspectors from Vienna was confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 24 October, as was a positive reaction to plans to meet Iran's needs for research reactor fuel. France, Russia and the USA have all approved a scheme to provide 19.5% enriched uranium to a reactor used, among other things, to make medical isotopes in Tehran. The uranium will be taken from Iranian stocks enriched to less than 5% and further enriched in Russia before being made into finished reactor fuel in France. Iran is still to give its final approval for the plan, which the IAEA hopes will come soon and "signal a new era of cooperation." Posted Oct 26 2009, 12:40 PM by World Nuclear News Filed under: IAEA, Uranium, Russia, Iran, France, fuel, reactor, international atomic Energy Agency

• Positives come from nuclear talks

  Yesterday's talks on the Iranian nuclear program saw that country's first one-on-one with the USA for many years as well as a solution to a problem concerning fuel for a research reactor. Posted Oct 02 2009, 07:46 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Russia, Iran, security, safety, talks

• Iran owns up to plant as UN calls for disarmament

  Within a day of the United Nations Security Council passing its first comprehensive action on nuclear issues since the mid-1990s, Iran has admitted it has been building a new uranium enrichment plant. Posted Sep 25 2009, 11:13 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: IAEA, Iran, un, plant, united nations, international atomic Energy Agency

• Situation normal in Iran

  The latest report on safeguards issues in Iran shows no progress made in resolving queries, while Iran has improved its fuel cycle capabilities. Posted Jun 09 2009, 09:09 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Russia, Iran, policy

• Iran draws attention to Bushehr

  Iranian officials assembled the world's press today for a pre-commissioning systems shakedown at the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Although billed as 'first operation' of the reactor, the unit itself contains no uranium fuel. Posted Feb 25 2009, 08:00 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Russia, Iran, Politics and Nuclear Power

• Frustration for IAEA in Iran

  Construction of Iran's heavy water reactor is progressing, while authorities in the country will not allow the IAEA access to the facility. Posted Feb 20 2009, 06:56 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: IAEA, Iran, Politics and Nuclear Power

• Bushehr operational by March 2010, Iran says

  Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, whose construction is nearing completion by Russia contractors, will become operational no later than March 2010, an Iranian official has said. Posted Dec 17 2008, 12:13 PM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran

• 'Spy pigeons' arrested

  [AFP, 20 October] Iranian security forces have arrested two "spy pigeons" near the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, the Etemad Melli newspaper reported. One of the pigeons, which had some metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it, was caught near a rose water production plant in the nearby city of Kashan in Isfahan province. A source told the newspaper, "Early this month, a black pigeon was caught bearing a blue-coated metal ring, with invisible strings." The source gave no further description of the pigeons, nor what their fate might be. In 2007, Iran issued a formal protest over the use of espionage by the USA to produce a key intelligence report on the country's nuclear program. In fact, last year Iran reportedly arrested 14 squirrels for spying. Iran's state-sponsored news agency said at the time, "The squirrels were carrying spy gear of foreign agencies, and were stopped before they could act, thanks to the alertness of our intelligence services." Posted Oct 24 2008, 12:17 PM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran, spy pigeons

• A new deal for Iran

  Iran has been presented with a new incentives to open up on its historic nuclear programs. The country could enjoy cooperation in nuclear power and a range of political and economic benefits if it allows a complete characterisation of its nuclear program. Posted Jun 16 2008, 10:36 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran

• Alleged studies now the focus

  Iran has continued to enrich uranium in defiance of UN Security Council demands, but the most serious questions for the country now concern research not closely related to nuclear power. Posted May 28 2008, 10:49 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran

• Man accused of illegal use of US software in Iran

  [Associated Press, 14 May] The trial has begun of an engineer accused of illegally taking software from the Palo Verde nuclear power plant in Arizona and using it in Iran. Prosecutors claim that Mohammad Reza Alavi, a 50-year-old naturalised US citizen, broke the US trade embargo with Iran in 2006 by taking training software from the plant, where he worked as a software engineer, and later downloading codes in Iran that allowed him to open it. The training software was used to simulate the control room at the plant and contained detailed plant information, such as the schematics of its design. Plant operators said the unauthorised use of the software did not pose a security risk because it contained no information on plant security. Authorities said that plant operators had blocked Alavi's access to the software after he resigned, but had failed to notify the vendor of the software. The engineer was still able to access a website run by the vendor, which provided access codes to use the software. Alavi's attorney said that the engineer, who worked at Palo Verde between 1989 and August 2006, was merely showing his relatives in Iran what he did for a living out of a sense of pride. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks. Posted May 15 2008, 11:53 AM by World Nuclear News Filed under: Iran