IRAN WEEKS AWAY FROM GETTING NUCLEAR BOMB GRADE URANIUM

Two forward leaps bring Iran weeks away from weapons-grade uranium
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 6, 2010, 12:42 PM (GMT+02:00)

Production of Iran's first batch of uranium yellowcake marked just one of Tehran's two nuclear leaps forward ahead of the resumption of its nuclear talks with the Six Powers in Geneva Monday, Dec. 6, after a 14-month interruption.

The second breakthrough was not made public. debkafile's military and intelligence sources disclose that after a huge effort, Iran was able to sit down with those powers having piled up 23.5 kilos of 19.75 percent enriched uranium. By January or early February, this amount can be topped to the full 28.2 kilos needed for producing 90 percent weapons grade uranium for fueling a nuclear bomb or warhead.

The first batch of yellowcake, announced Sunday over state TV by Iranian Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi, who leads his delegation the Geneva talks, comes from the Gachin mine in southern Iran. Sent to Isfahan for conversion, it enables Iran to produce its own raw material for the uranium powder used in the process of creating nuclear fuel and is no longer depends on imported ore.

"Enemies and ill-wishers have always tried to create despair and disappointment among our youth, academicians, engineers and our nation, but today we witness the delivery of the first batch of yellowcake which is produced inside the country," Salehi said.

Despite the six-day shutdown of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant from Nov. 16-22, due to an invasion by the Stuxnet malworm and the serious injury suffered by Prof. Fereydoun Abbasi, Director of Centrifuge Operations, the Iranian program has managed to come within touching distance of its goal: It is only 4.7 kilos short of the 28.2 kilos of 19.75 percent enriched uranium needed for going into weapons-grade production. The Iranians need no more than a few weeks, up to early February at the latest, to reach that goal

[link to www.debka.com]