Russian state firm stops work at Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility

Russia’s Rusatom nuclear firm has halted work at Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, Russia’s Interfax news agency says.

The announcement comes weeks after Iran announced it would restart nuclear enrichment there, breaking the 2015 nuclear deal.

The TVEL unit of Rusatom, which makes nuclear fuel components, says in a statement that Iran’s decision to resume uranium enrichment at Fordo makes it impossible to produce radioactive isotopes for medical purposes.

The company notes that uranium enrichment is technologically incompatible with production of such isotopes. It adds that Iran would need to disassemble the centrifuges used to enrich uranium and decontaminate the room to continue the medical project.

The company says it had informed Iran of its decision.

— with AP