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UN atomic agency to meet with ElBaradei urging patience
Vienna (AFP) Sept 9, 2007 The UN atomic agency meets on Iran this week with its chief Mohamed ElBaradei calling for worried nations to give him a few months to see if new inspections shed light on whether Tehran seeks the bomb. The International Atomic Energy Agency will be hearing an ElBaradei report backing a timetable agreed last month for Iran to answer outstanding questions over its nuclear programme. ElBaradei has come under fire for his approach as some Western diplomats have said the timetable gives Iran the chance to stave off the threat of new UN sanctions for a few more months. The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking an atomic weapon, has voiced doubts over the timetable, saying it does not go far enough. ElBaradei's report suggests there is more time for diplomacy as Iran is still short of the 3,000 centrifuges it would need for an industrial level of uranium enrichment, the process that makes fuel for nuclear power reactors but also atom bomb material. But Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran does have 3,000 centrifuges running, a comment diplomats in Vienna said may be more bluster than reality. US ambassador Gregory Schulte told reporters Friday that the timetable only covers unresolved issues from the past and "does not provide for a full verification of current activities" or call for a halt to enrichment. The influential US newspaper the Washington Post said in an editorial last week that ElBaradei was failing to crack down on Iran for enriching uranium, and was giving Tehran a chance to avoid UN sanctions with the deal on new inspections. "By the time the IAEA and Iran are done talking about past questions, Iran will almost certainly have enough working centrifuges (to enrich enough uranium) to produce a bomb within a year," the Post said, referring to the industrial level of 3,000 centrifuges. US officials have said the United Nations Security Council must be ready to impose a third round of sanctions to get Iran to stop enriching uranium and to cooperate fully with the IAEA, as Iran has defied the first two rounds adopted in December 2006 and March 2007. But the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors is not expected to impede or even pass judgement on ElBaradei's timetable at the meeting opening in Vienna Monday, although the matter is expected to be debated. The timetable is what ElBaradei calls a "working document" to resolve by the end of the year questions still unanswered about Tehran's past nuclear activities. "This is not for the board . . . I keep telling all the people, please leave the driving to us, and then we will let you know where we are by November," ElBaradei told reporters last Friday at IAEA headquarters in Vienna. In a sign that the United States is prepared to go along with ElBaradei, Schulte told reporters Friday that the timetable "outlines a potentially important process for clarifying historical questions if Iran cooperates fully and quickly." The new initiative comes over four years since the IAEA began an investigation into US charges that Iran is using a civilian energy project to hide the development of nuclear weapons. Among the lingering questions are queries about Iran's work in developing high-tech centrifuges to increase the speed of enriching uranium, Iran's possession of documents on making the inner core of atom bombs and US intelligence reports that Iran has a secret military program. IAEA officials have with the timetable "found a way of dealing with the Iranians. We think they should be given a chance," a diplomat from a non-aligned nation on the agency's board told AFP, requesting anonymity. A diplomat from a European Union state said the EU wants ElBaradei, however, to put on the public record at the board that the deal with Iran will not stop the IAEA from asking any questions it wants and is not a guarantee that the agency's inspections will be limited. ElBaradei had Friday said: "We will continue and have the right to ask any questions now and in the future. Iran knows that. They were told that." He urged patience, saying the IAEA's deal for inspections is a necessary step in trying to defuse a confrontation that could lead to war. The United States stresses diplomacy to resolve the crisis but has not ruled out military action. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Civil Nuclear Energy Science, Technology and News Powering The World in the 21st Century at Energy-Daily.com
Bulgarian nuclear power plant running after repairs
Sofia (AFP) Sept 9, 2007A 1,000-megawatt reactor at a Bulgarian nuclear power plant was Sunday reconnected to the national electricity grid after a short circuit put it out of action for a week. |
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