Iran Starts 60% Uranium Enrichment

[Arian]

No it’s not. Again read what I wrote.

Its not what Iran has on the front end (5% or 20%) that matters. It is how much stock is coming out the backend at 60%

Right now being fed UF6 gas is leading to 5 grams an hour at 60% with the current centrifuge cascade set up for 60% enrichment.

Also each step of the enrichment process 5% > 20% > 60% > 90% yields LESS enriched uranium as you get to higher enrichment.

Does this make sense or should I draw you a diagram?

In order to increase enrichment per hour, Iran needs to have more centrifuges enriching at 60% than it currently does. As of right now the enrichment at 60% is very small. Mostly a negotiation tactic.

On a separate unrelated note: if 4000-5000 IR-1 is offline than enrichment capacity is below 10,000 SWU until the IAEA confirms Iran installed the 1,000 IR-6 it says it’s going to install and that they have been fed UF6 gas.

Even if you want to draw a diagram, you can't because you know next to nothing about nuclear physics. lol

Iran has 3 tonnes of 4.5% enriched uranium and 20 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium. That's more than enough for 4 nuclear warheads in less than 8 weeks.

At 4.5%, Iran has already done 63% of the job for acquiring weapon grade enriched uranium. At 20%, Iran has already done 85% of the job for acquiring weapon grade uranium. It's just science and calculations. You can't argue about it. Here's a diagram for you, learn it carefully for next times:

If I want to calculate it rigorously for you, a feed of 3 tonnes of 4.5% enriched uranium yields approximately 143 kilograms of 90% enriched uranium. That's more than enough for 5 small warheads. Furthermore, a feed of 20 kilograms of 20% enriched uranium adds another 4 kilograms to the yield. Iran needs only 85 SWU to enrich 20 kilograms of 20% to 4 kilograms of 90%, and it needs another 9181 SWU to enrich 3 tonnes of 4.5% enriched uranium to 143 kilograms of 90% and that is completely within Iran's capabilities at the moment. For (26 + 4) kilograms of HEU, Iran needs only 63 days at most. And I'm not taking into account Iran's 60% enrichment because it's irrelevant as I told you before.

As for a nuclear warhead, depending on the design, only a few kilograms of the fissile material need to be enriched beyond 90%. The average enrichment in the first atomic bomb which followed a gun-type design was about 80%, which ranged from 50% of 89% and it weighed about 60 kilograms. Needless to say that less than 1 kilogram of the uranium underwent fission and it resulted in an energy equivalent to 18 kilotons of TNT. An improved design can acquire a higher yield with much less fissile material. The gun-type design is fully within Iran's industrial and scientific capabilities. The AMAD project strongly suggests that even an implosion design is within Iran's reach.

On a separate note, Iran was operating nearly 15,000 SWU before the incident at Natanz. So, even if all 5060 IR-1 centrifuges at Natanz were destroyed, Iran still has more than 9266 SWU that it needs for enrichment in my calculations.

 

[Messerschmitt]

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