TEHRAN: Iran said Sunday it has produced the first batch of uranium yellowcake, a raw material for enrichment, insisting the new step “strengthens” its position in upcoming nuclear talks with world powers. Atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi said that having previously been obliged to import yellowcake from abroad, Iran was now “self-sufficient” in the entire nuclear fuel cycle. “The West had counted on the possibility of us being in trouble over raw material but today we had the first batch of yellowcake from Gachin mine sent to Isfahan (conversion) facility,” Salehi said on state television. Conversion is the process by which yellowcake is turned into uranium hexafluoride for enrichment. Analysts believe Iran has nearly exhausted 600 tons of yellowcake acquired from South Africa in the 1970s before the revolution, triggering speculation that a lack of raw material might halt its nuclear program. A February 2009 study by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said that there was scant evidence at that time that Iran had been able to supplement its dwindling supply of yellowcake with domestically mined uranium. Salehi said Iran still cannot meet “the overall need of the Isfahan facility but... will produce a significant part of it” from the Gachin mine near the Gulf port city of Bandar Abbas. “Iran has become self-sufficient in the entire fuel cycle, starting from (uranium) exploration, mining and then turning it into yellowcake and converting it to UF6 and then turning it into fuel plates or pellets,” he said. He said Iran would formally notify the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its yellowcake production but declined to disclose the amount of the first domestically produced batch. Iran's announcement comes as it prepares to hold a new round of talks with world powers on its controversial nuclear program in Geneva Monday. Salehi said it meant Iran would “go to the negotiations with strength and power.” – Agence France
