Inspectors Confirm New Work at Secure Nuclear Site

Inspectors Confirm New Work at Secure Nuclear Site
In late August 2012, international nuclear inspectors reported that Iran has already installed three-quarters of the nuclear centrifuges it needs to complete a deep-underground site for the production of nuclear fuel. The finding is likely to affirm the belief of Israeli officials that President Obama must make clear his intention to halt Iran’s program or give tacit approval for Israel to act on its own.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the last to be issued before the American presidential election, lays out in detail how Iran has used the summer to double the number of centrifuges installed deep under a mountain near the holy city of Qum, while cleansing another site where the agency has said it suspects that the country has conducted explosive experiments that could be “relevant” to the production of a nuclear weapon. Based on satellite photographs, the I.A.E.A. said the cleanup has been so extensive that it would “significantly hamper” the ability of inspectors to understand what kind of work took place there.