IRAN NEWS NATIONAL DESK

TEHRAN – The secondary circuit of Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor was to become operational on Monday, cutting further delays in the plant’s reconfiguration by signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal.

Under the deal, Iran agreed to remove the core of the Arak reactor and fill it with concrete provided that the other parties of the accord redesign it for production of medical isotopes, which they did not.

On Monday, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi took journalists on a tour of the facility in the city of Khondab in central Iran to show how Iranian experts had got the job done.

It consists of two circuits, with the first one tasked with removing heat from the heart of the reactor, and the secondary circuit responsible for transferring the heat from the first circuit to cooling towers and finally to the outside environment.

The ceremony on Monday was also to feature installation of the shield to cover the reactor’s pit. It is an ultra-heavy electromechanical component, 7.2 meters in diameter and more than 100 tons in weight.

Both the shield and the entire components used in the reactor’s second circuit have been completely designed and manufactured inside the country by Iranian engineers, local news agencies said.

The facility is being “modernized with the aim of gaining experience and technical knowledge in the design and construction of nuclear reactors, training of specialized human resources, creation of research and development possibilities in the fields of neutron physics and thermohydraulics, and production of radioisotope for medical, industrial and agricultural use,” ISNA news agency said.

Under the nuclear accord signed between Iran and six world powers, including the U.S., Tehran agreed to redesign the 40-megawatt Arak reactor to sharply cut its potential output of plutonium.

“Today a significant part of the reactor becomes operational,” Ali Akbar Salehi told reporters at Arak.

The secondary circuit “transfers the heat generated in the reactor’s heart to cooling towers” and is now complete, he added, in remarks aired on state television.

Salehi noted the reactor’s primary circuit, which contains the core, was still being built.

“Fifty-two systems have to be built so that the reactor can become operational… we have completed 20 so far,” he said.

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Salehi, the vice president and the AEOI chief, broke the story of launching the second part of the Arak reactor in a meeting with members of the Parliament Education and Research Committee, the IRIB reported.

The announcement by Salehi falls within Iran’s strategy to partially remove limits on its nuclear activities in retaliation for the revocation of the multilateral nuclear deal by the Trump administration and a failure by the Europeans to honor their obligation to compensate Iran for the sanctions effects.

Salehi also said the stockpile of Iran’s nuclear fuel enriched above 3.5 percent has gone up highly so that every day 5-6 kilograms are added to the stockpile.

“This means that we have reached to the pre-JCPOA era,” stated Salehi, a nuclear physicist.

Under the 2015 nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran was allowed to just keep 300 kilograms of nuclear fuel enriched to 3.67 percent.

The nuclear chief also said by next month his organization will add 2,500 SWU (separative work unit) to its current 5,060 SWU and “this means that our enrichment capacity will increase by 40 percent.”

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According to a report by Tasnim news agency, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has invited over 70 press representatives to the Arak nuclear facility for Monday, where “very important information” on increasing the country’s enriched uranium stockpile will be announced.

The report added that Tehran will also announce its measures to prepare for a second phase of limiting commitments that is to begin in a few weeks.

On May 8, exactly one year after U.S. President Donald Trump quit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran adopted a countermeasure announcing its decision to abandon limits on its uranium enrichment stockpile unless Europe makes a decision within 60 days to shield it from the U.S. sanctions.

After walking away from the landmark nuclear deal a year ago, Trump imposed strict sanctions that squeezed Iran’s economy, triggered a currency collapse and ushered in shortages of consumer goods. The JCPOA had lifted previous sanctions on Iran and forbade any new ones as long as Iran complied with the deal.

Iran’s appeal was addressed to European signatories to the agreement, which are struggling to reconcile Trump’s hardline stance on Iran with their promise to continue trading and engaging with the energy-rich nation.

German trade with Iran was worth 3.4 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in 2017 and 1.5 billion euros in the first half of 2018. Trade with France totaled 2.42 billion euros last year. But secondary U.S. sanctions, which punish non-American companies and financial institutions doing business with Iran, mean major European companies are already staying away.

The U.S. stepped up economic pressure early in May by allowing the expiration of waivers that permitted eight governments to import Iranian oil, in a drive to cut Iran’s oil exports to zero.

In a letter to other signatories on May 8, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said it was no longer committed to restrictions on the storage of enriched uranium and heavy water stocks, and could stop observing limits on uranium enrichment at a later stage.

If European partners meet pledges to facilitate Iran’s access to banking and oil markets, however, it will restore full compliance with the agreement, Tehran promised.

On Saturday, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araqchi told the visiting Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS) Helga Schmid that the 60-day ultimatum “will under no condition be extended,” adding, “Iran will operationalize later measures, i.e., the second phase [of commitment limitation], unless they [Europe] fulfill our demands.”

Under the JCPOA, Iran agreed to put limits on its nuclear activities in exchange for termination of economic and financial sanctions, however, with the return of sanctions, which are even harsher than the previous ones, the validity of the multilateral agreement has come under question by the officials and the public.

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