U.S. Concerned About Possible Secret Iranian Atomic Work

Iran's refusal to give early notification of new nuclear facilities raises concerns about possible secret atomic work, the US ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said recently. Gregory Schulte said in an interview with AFP that Iran was clearly working to master uranium enrichment, the process that makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors or, at highly refined levels, atom bombs. In retaliation for UN sanctions, Iran is also refusing to honor a safeguards clause that requires it to provide "early declaration of any decision to construct a new nuclear facility or to modify an existing one," Schulte said. He said that as Iran masters uranium enrichment, "they can do one of two things. They can either develop at other locations a covert capability ... or they can develop a larger-scale capability at (their enrichment facility) at Natanz to enrich uranium to low levels and then kick out the (UN nuclear) inspectors and run it through again and enrich it to high levels" that would be weapons-grade, Schulte said.