IAEA: Iran halves number of high purity uranium enriching centrifuges

APD NEWS

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Iran has reduced the number of centrifuges enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity at an above-ground plant at Natanz to one cluster from two, a report by the UN nuclear watchdog seen by Reuters indicated on Thursday.

Iran announced the shift to 60 percent, a big step towards weapons-grade from the 20 percent it had previously achieved, in response to an explosion and power cut at Natanz last week that Tehran has blamed on Israel.

"On 21 April 2021, the Agency verified that Iran had changed the mode by which it was producing UF6 enriched up to 60 percent U-235 at PFEP," the report said, referring to the above-ground Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant at Natanz and to uranium hexafluoride, the form in which uranium is fed into centrifuges for enrichment.

(CGTN)