Iran back under nuclear deal limit, says UN watchdog

6 December 2016, 9:07 pm

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The UN’s atomic watchdog has verified that Iran has exported enough nuclear-grade heavy water to come back into line with last year’s landmark deal with the West, a diplomatic source says.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has told member states that it has “verified that 11 metric tonnes of nuclear-grade heavy water have arrived at its destination,” the source says.

A worker rides a bicycle in front of the reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, just outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran, on October 26, 2010. (AP/Mehr News Agency, Majid Asgaripour, File)

This brings Iran’s stock of heavy water back below the 130-tonne level set out in the nuclear accord with world powers that came into force in January, the watchdog told its members.

Heavy water is not itself radioactive, but is used in certain types of reactor. Plutonium for use in nuclear weapons can be extracted from the spent fuel of such reactors.

— AFP