The Battle Within Iran

Iran is an oil producing country, yet it is building nuclear reactors in earthquake zones, and only has enough uranium for 7 years of standard energy production. Why then, nuclear energy?

Amir Taheri in Arab News:
The feeling that a handful of “tasmimgran” (decision makers) may have deceived not only the gullible Europeans but also the Iranian people has been strengthened by two other events.

The first is the decision by President Ahmadinejad to suppress a report by the Tehran University’s seismographic center calling for “broader studies” in the choice of locations for projected nuclear power stations. The report warns that Iran, located on the world’s most active earthquake zone, may not be the best place for building nuclear stations which, with existing technology, might not resist tremors of over 7 on the Richter scale.

The report, parts of which have been leaked, caused concern in the Gulf province of Bushehr, where Iran’s first nuclear station is located, and in Khuzestan where a second one is to be built by 2010.

The Tehran University report has been seized upon by those who argue that Iran, the owner of the world’s second largest gas reserves, and with enough oil to cover its needs for at least 250 years, might have no need of costly and potentially dangerous nuclear energy.

The second event is the release of another report, almost certainly leaked by the entourage of former President Khatami, that shows Iran’s uranium reserves will cover the needs of the Bushehr power station for fuel for no more than seven years.

But the same reserves, when processed and enriched, could help the Islamic republic build some 200 atomic bombs.

The report’s message is clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear power industry without secure supplies of imported uranium. Thus the current enrichment program, using locally mined uranium, could be aimed at only one thing: Producing enough ingredients for bombs.