Iran claims production of nuke yellowcake

TEHRAN - Iran has confirmed that it has become self-sufficient in production of nuclear yellowcake.

Yellowcake is the final product of the milling of uranium ore. It contains about 80 % of uranium oxide and is usually represented by the formula U3O8.

Yellowcake is actually brown or black, not yellow; the name comes from the colour and texture of the concentrates produced by early mining operations.

Iran announced the nuclear achievement ahead of a meeting in Geneva between the country’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili and European Union (EU) foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton on behalf of the five UN Security Council permanent members and Germany (G5+1).

Xinhua quoted the head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Salehi as saying that Iran has become self-sufficient in producing nuclear yellowcake.

Salehi further said that the first consignment of yellowcake was shipped from the Gachin mine in Bandar Abbas, southern Iran, to the Isfahan Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF), which is under the surveillance of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA).

Yellowcake was previously imported into the country. Iran has said it would now speed up exploration, extraction, and conversion of uranium ore to yellowcake in the near future, Salehi said.

“Today, we are witnessing a very remarkable achievement,” Salehi said.

On Saturday, Iran’s envoy to IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, had said that Tehran was against any restrictions on access to nuclear fuel production, and also opposes denying undeniable rights of all countries for development of nuclear technology and know-how for peaceful purposes. (ANI)