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Iranian Entity: Arak

Entity Name:
Arak
Program:
Nuclear
Address:
Arak, Iran
Text:
The site of a heavy water production plant under construction and a planned heavy water reactor; located in the Khondab area near Arak, which is approximately 150 miles southwest of Tehran.

According to the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Behnam Asgarpour is the operational manager of the Arak project and the project is supervised by Dr. Mohammad Qannadi, Deputy for Production of Nuclear Fuel of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI); construction reportedly began in 1996; allegedly procures equipment through the Mesbah Energy Company, which is headed by Daryoush Shaibani.

- Heavy water production plant (HWPP)
Iran confirmed that a heavy water production plant was under construction to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in February 2003; on August 19, 2003, Iran informed the IAEA that the plant would have the capacity to produce eight tons of heavy water annually, and the expansion ability to double production; on October 29, 2003, Iran informed the IAEA that it had begun construction of a second heavy water production line, which would also be able to produce eight tons of heavy water; In December 2003, Iranian Vice President Gholareza Aghazadeh said that some parts of the plant were operational; Aghazadeh claimed that the project had made "80% progress in general and 90% in equipment and installation;" visited by the IAEA May 14-23, 2004.

- Heavy water research reactor (IR-40)
On May 5, 2003, Iran announced plans to build a 40 MW(th) heavy water research reactor, the Iran Nuclear Research Reactor (IR-40); construction had been expected to begin in June 2004; it will be fueled by natural UO2 and will use heavy water as both a coolant and a moderator; the natural UO2 will be produced at the Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) at Isfahan and made into fuel assemblies at the Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) to be constructed at Isfahan; Iran presented the technical features of the IR-40 to the IAEA on July 12, 2003; at that time, Iran claimed that the facility was based on indigenous design, but later admitted that it had consulted foreign experts for some parts of the design of the reactor; according to U.S. officials, Russian assistance is suspected; according to Iranian authorities, the IR-40 will be used for research and development and for the production of radioisotopes for medical and industrial use; Iran provided updated plans for the IR-40 on July 26, 2003, and again on August 4, 2003; but contrary to the declared purpose of the reactor, the plans contained no reference to hot cells; on October 21, 2003, Iran acknowledged that two hot cells had been foreseen and submitted the drawings of a building which would contain hot cells; on November 1, 2003, Iran announced tentative plans to construct an additional building for hot cells at the site; the first building would produce "short-lived" isotopes and the second building would produce "long-lived" isotopes; on May 13, 2004, Iran submitted updated design information that attributed abandoning plans to build hot cells for "long-lived" isotopes to difficulty in obtaining the necessary technical information, manipulators and shielding windows; in 2000, Iran unsuccessfully attempted to purchase from France ten high-density radiation shielding windows for a hot cell, which would have provided protection equivalent to 140 cm of concrete; and in 2002, an Iranian company based in the United Arab Emirates attempted to purchase from France 28 remote manipulators; according to the IAEA, these procurement attempts are excessive for hot cells intended for radioisotope production and are more suited to hot cells for handling spent fuel; Iran provided more detailed information on the origin of its hot cell designs to the IAEA in August 2004, including drawings it received from a foreign company in 1977; Iran claimed to have used the information in these drawings as the basis for its efforts to procure manipulators; also in August 2004, Iran said that the project consisted of nine hot cells: four for radioisotope production, two for the production of cobalt and iridium, and three for "waste management processing," and that the project would require ten back-up manipulators; in June 2004 and again in September 2004, the IAEA?s governing board passed resolutions calling on Iran to "reconsider its decision" to build a heavy water reactor.
Images:
  Image 1: Satellite image of Arak on August 18, 2001 (Satellite image courtesy of Space Imaging Eurasia)
Date Entered:
1/26/2004
Date Last Modified:
10/27/2004