The Iranian Nuclear Program
The Iranian nuclear program was originally launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States. It was part of the Atoms for Peace Program. The support of the United States and Western Europe in the nuclear program continued until 1979, when the Islamic Revolution toppled the Shah of Iran.
After the revolution the Iranian government disbanded the elements of the nuclear program temporarily and then later revived it will less assistance from the Western world. The Iranian nuclear program has included several research sites, a uranium mine, nuclear reactor and uranium processing facilities.
There are currently thirteen states that possess operational enrichment or reprocessing facilities. These facilities are necessary to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. Iran has offered to place additional restrictions on the nuclear program to dissipate concerns that the civilian nuclear program may be diverted to otherwise non-peaceful uses.
The Iranian government has offered, for instance, to ratify the Additional Protocol to allow for additional inspections, operate the uranium enrichment facility that is located at Natanz as a multinational fuel center and renounce plutonium reprocessing that is currently done in the country and immediately fabricate all enriched uranium into reactor fuel rods.
The offer by Iran to open the uranium enrichment program to foreign private and public participation comes in light of suggestions of an IAEA expert committee which was formed in order to investigate the methods of reducing the risks that sensitive fuel cycle activities could contribute to national nuclear weapon capabilities.
The Iranian government has, in return, been offered a long term arrangement which will allow for them to develop relations and cooperation which would be based on the mutual respect and establishment of international confidence in the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program. This act would require a cessation of enrichment.
The only nuclear power plan in Iran is Bushehr I. This plant is currently expected to begin operations in March 2008. It will not deliver its maximum capacity to the nation’s power grid, however, until March 2009.
Iran has also announced that it is currently working on a new 360 MWE nuclear power plan that is to be constructed in Darkhoven, as well as seeking other smaller nuclear power plans and uranium mines in the future.
Due to the international community’s behavior during the Iran and Iraq war in the 1980s, the Iranian government has little confidence in the community of the world as a whole.