Uranium enrichment question

Can someone please answer a "simple question" for me, perhaps someone with knowledge of low enriched uranium used for medical isotopes and fuel vs highly enriched uranium above 90 percent, which I understand is the amount of enriched uranium needed to make nuclear weapons and such.

I'm basically referring to this article on yahoo: news.yahoo.com...

A few quotes:
""I want to announce with a loud voice here that the first package of 20 percent fuel was produced and provided to the scientists,"-Ahmadinejad

"Tehran has said it wants to further enrich the uranium — which is still substantially below the 90 percent plus level used in the fissile core of nuclear warheads — as a part of a plan to fuel its research reactor that provides medical isotopes to hundreds of thousands of Iranians undergoing cancer treatment.

But the West says Tehran is not capable of turning the material into the fuel rods needed by the reactor. Instead it fears that Iran wants to enrich the uranium to make nuclear weapons."-Yahoo Writer

So right now, their scientist announced their first successful package of nuclear fuel was produced just recently.
And it takes at least 90% of enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon. Supposedly Irans "secret nuclear weapons program" never stopped ceasing operations in 2003, and form then until now they have enriched their uranium to 20%. Last year or a year and a half ago their capabilities (acknowledged by the US)of enriching uranuim was at 5%.

The US claims this:
"But the West says Tehran is not capable of turning the material into the fuel rods needed by the reactor. Instead it fears that Iran wants to enrich the uranium to make nuclear weapons."-Yahoo Writer

So unless I'm missing something here, what they are trying to say is that Iran's so called secret nuclear weapons program is capable, resourceful and "smart" enough to make a nuclear bomb, however, they are for some reason unable to of turning the material into fuel rods for medical isotopes and also for nuclear energy? What? Are they trying to say its easier to build a nuclear bomb than create nuclear fuel for energy and medical stuff? This just doesnt make any sense. Or maybe I'm just reading wrong.



[edit on 11-2-2010 by thereaintnospoon]

reply to post by thereaintnospoon


Uranium enriched to 20% is usable in weapons. It's called "weapon(s)-usable" grade. Uranium bombs are massive compared to plutonium ones. The first nukes used uranium, whereas new ones use plutonium. Uranium bombs are really old-fashioned.

I was going to respond yesterday just before davesidious responded, but got distracted then went to bed.

What Dave says is correct.

It likely means current intel' indicates Iran does not have the facilities to convert Uranium into fuel rods etc for the supposed nuclear power generation or for use by the medical establishment.

The fissile reactions of a reactor and an atomic, on to thermonuclear detonation are very different.

An atomic or thermonuclear device detonates into an uncontrolled reaction and immediate decay of the nuclear material, such as Uranium and so immediate release of energy, an atomic device is simple but very large and only has a trigger and basic nuclear material,, Uranium, see the early devices dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Manhattan project, whereas thermonuclear devices have layers of highly enriched Uranium, Caesium 137, Cobalt and Plutonium which produces an enhanced detonation with significantly higher yield than simple atomic devices so can be scaled down in yield and size even though different nuclear material is used, hence tactical nukes, more bang for the buck as they say and why multiple devices can be in a single nuclear missile warhead etc.

To use fissionable Uranium in an atomic device is actually very easy once sufficient amounts of uranium are enriched and what has bothered me is development of atomic devices which can be delivered by medium range bombers and dropped near a staging base in surrounding countries or aircraft carriers etc, making use to counter an Iranian attack much harder as personnel would have to all wear environment suits to operate in an area irradiated by an atomic detonation, i refer to the devices as i have thought the Iranians are seeking to develop for a number of years now as "drop bombs" not even intended for missile deployment but to be dropped near a target and rendering the target unusable to counter Iranian hostilities, a glorified dirty bomb with a lower yield explosive force but a large fallout area.

Creating an atomic device is easier than processing fuel rods etc for controlled fission reactions of power plants and medical apparatus, once enriched Uranium is available, it just needs the casing manufactured, the detonator, Uranium and 'workings', easily done in a shielded lab'.

While if intent is for peaceable uses, separate processing plants are required to manufacture fuel rods, pellets.

Now i don't know, i'm surmising, but if they aren't building processing plants to turn their Uranium into fuel rods, it would indicate the intent is more likely to create simple atomic devices, too large for missile deployment really, but not too big for deployment via medium range bombers etc.

And this has been a concern i've had for 5-6 years now, as per my articulations to various people years back as well as a couple of forums.

Considering the manner Iran has been in recent years, i don't think such concerns are unfounded, that's me and intelligence services have much more current data on the situation, if they think that's where Iran is going now they are probably correct, i was worried about them developing atomic drop bombs half a decade ago and it seems all they have done since then is progress atomic weapons development and seek to hide what they are doing, one would rather think a peaceable civil nuclear programme would be more open and up front to the international community rather than getting them to admit anything at all like pulling Buffalo teeth.

Is one reason i'd like to see hot Fusion developed, so we can get onto banning fission technology altogether at some point in the near future, when you see thermonuclear devices, they require a lot of work, not easy devices to create, simple atomic devices are not actually that hard when somebody has the base material, Uranium, very worrying indeed.

Peace.


[edit on 12-2-2010 by DeltaPan]