Iran's Natanz
Facility
by Marshall
Breit, Research Assistant
Friday, May 02,
2003
The news that Iran is building a uranium enrichment
facility has increased previously existing concerns over Iran's
nuclear intentions. Information about the full extent of Iran's
current and future capabilities is not known, but enough information
has been publicly discussed to provide some background.
Natanz
The Natanz facility is located in
central Iran, approximately 200 miles south of Tehran. The complex
itself is extensive and covers nearly 100,000 square meters. Many of
the largest structures within the complex are buried underground.
The two largest of these structures enclose about 60,000 square
meters collectively. 1
The full facility is still under construction and is
not scheduled for completion until 2005. According to administration
and IAEA officials, there are currently 160 centrifuge machines at
the facility that are considered operational and parts are in place
for another 1000 machines. Iran denies that any uranium has been run
through these units, but experts believe Iran would be unlikely to
move forward with serial production of centrifuges that had not been
tested with uranium. A recent Time magazine article also reports
that the IAEA found that Iran had added uranium to the centrifuges
to test the machines.2
When completed, the Natanz facility is expected to house 5,000 gas
centrifuges and could produce enough material for two weapons a
year.3
There has been much speculation about Iran's decision
to place the most sensitive sites underground. In a press briefing
in December, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, ""It
appears from the imagery that a service road, several small
structures, and perhaps three large structures are being built below
grade, and some of these are already being covered with earth. Iran
clearly intended to harden and bury that facility. That facility was
probably never intended by Iran to be a declared component of the
peaceful program. Instead, Iran has been caught constructing a
secret underground site where it could produce fissile
material."
Construction on the Natanz facility is believed to
have begun in 2000.4
However, Iran's ambitions to develop an indigenous uranium
enrichment program date back more than a decade. According to
western intelligence sources, in the early '90s Iran repeatedly
attempted to purchase balancing machines and diagnostic and
monitoring equipment from various European countries.5
Where Did The Technology Come From?
It is still unclear
exactly where Iran obtained the designs and materials to manufacture
the centrifuges at the Natanz site. There is speculation amongst
U.S. officials that the original design came from Pakistan and was
adapted by the Iranians. According to a report in the Washington
Post, Iran was able to overcome engineering obstacles with the
assistance of foreign scientists. 6
Iranian officials have stated that their reluctance to disclose the
existence of the facility was due in part to their concern that the
U.S. would pressure foreign suppliers to stop aiding the project.
This comment appears to confirm that outside assistance for the
facility was used.
Violation of the NPT?
Iran
signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty on July 1, 1968, and
maintains it remains a member in good standing. Tehran, however, has
not signed the IAEA's 93 + 2 protocol, which allows the agency to
inspect all nuclear activities, including those that are undeclared
by member states. Under the original safeguards agreement, Iran is
not obligated to declare the Natanz enrichment plant until 180 days
before the facility is supplied with nuclear material. If Iranian
claims are true and no nuclear material has been run through
machines at this facility, failure to immediately disclose the
facility is not a violation of Iran's NPT commitments. During
Mohamed ElBaradei's visit to Iran in February, Iranian officials
agreed to provide design information on the Natanz facility to the
IAEA this spring.7
Additional
Resources:
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Proliferation News
Notes:
1 "Detailed Assessment of the Possible Uranium
Enrichment Plant at Natanz, Iran," ISIS Issue Brief by
David
Albright, February 20, 2003
2 "Iran's Nuclear Threat," Time,
March 13, 2003
3 "Iran's Nuclear Program Speeds Ahead,"
Washington Post, March 10, 2003
4 Natanz Fact Sheet by John Pike,
Global Security.org
5 Deadly Arsenals: Tracking Weapons of Mass
Destrcution
6 "Iran's Nuclear Program Speeds Ahead," Washington
Post, March 10, 2003
7 "Furor over Fuel," Bulletin of the Atomic
Scientists, May/June 2003
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