Publication Type:
- Weapon Program Background Report
Weapon Program:
- Nuclear
Iran operates a number of facilities that carry out the different steps of the nuclear fuel cycle. This infrastructure includes the mines where Iran extracts natural uranium, the mill that processes uranium ore into a concentrate known as "yellowcake," and the plant that converts this yellowcake into uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas. This gas is the feedstock for centrifuges that enrich uranium. Iran operates several gas centrifuge plants and accumulates enriched uranium that can be used to manufacture fuel for nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons. It also operates reactors for the purpose of generating electricity and conducting research for medical and industrial applications. Because of the dual-use potential of many of these facilities, however, the international community has long raised concerns that Iran could use this infrastructure and expertise to develop nuclear weapons.
Iran has declared the above facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and they have been subject to some form of inspection by the Agency. However, recent developments highlight the importance of accessing facilities that Iran has not declared to the IAEA. In 2018, for example, the IAEA became aware of a site in Turquzabad, near Tehran, that had allegedly been used to store nuclear material and equipment. In 2019, Agency inspectors visited the site, took environmental samples, and detected uranium particles of anthropogenic origin there.
The IAEA subsequently identified three additional undeclared sites where nuclear-related activities might have occurred in the past: Lavisan-Shian, Varamin, and Marivan. Iran ultimately granted the IAEA access to Varamin and Marivan to investigate the possible presence of nuclear material or activity, but such access took months to negotiate. As of April 2023, the Agency had not resolved outstanding issues related to those sites due to a lack of cooperation from Iran. The IAEA decided not to seek access to Lavisan-Shian after determining that there would be no verification value because the site had “undergone extensive sanitization and levelling.”
These incidents echo past access challenges for the Agency: before the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the IAEA sought to understand the "possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program" but was often thwarted in its investigation by a lack of access to locations and key individuals. In accepting the JCPOA, Iran agreed to allow the IAEA expanded access to monitor nuclear fuel cycle facilities and related activities. However, Iran began curtailing its cooperation with the Agency following the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA.
The table below lists Iran’s known and alleged nuclear sites and their purposes, locations, and operating statuses.
Facility/Site |
Purpose |
Location |
Status |
---|---|---|---|
Saghand Uranium Mine |
extraction of uranium ore |
Saghand |
operational |
Gchine Uranium Mine |
extraction of uranium ore |
Gchine |
closed |
Narigan Mining and Industrial Complex | extraction of uranium ore | Bafq | operational |
Ardakan Yellowcake Production Plant |
uranium concentrate production |
Ardakan |
operational |
Bandar Abbas Yellowcake Production Plant |
uranium concentrate production |
Bandar Abbas |
closed |
Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF) |
uranium conversion |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Uranium Chemistry Laboratory (UCL) |
study of uranium compounds |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
closed |
Fuel Fabrication Laboratory (FFL) |
fuel pellet production |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
closed |
Enriched Uranium Powder Plant (EUPP) | conversion of UF6 gas into oxide | Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) | operational |
Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) |
fuel production for the Arak reactor and light water reactors |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Fuel Plate Fabrication Plant (FPFP) |
fuel production for the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Zirconium Production Plant (ZPP) |
zirconium sponge production |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Miniature Neutron Source Reactor (MNSR) (30 kWt) |
reportedly for isotope production |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Heavy Water Zero Power Reactor |
research |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Light Water Sub-Critical Reactor (LWSCR) |
research |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
operational |
Light water research reactor (10 MWt) | testing of nuclear fuel materials and isotope production | Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) | under construction |
Graphite Sub-Critical Reactor (GSCR) |
training |
Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center (ENTC) |
decommissioned |
Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA) Karaj Complex | production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows | Karaj | decommissioned |
Esfahan centrifuge workshop | production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows | Esfahan | unknown[1] |
Natanz centrifuge workshop | production of centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows | Natanz | likely operational[1] |
Iran Centrifuge Assembly Center (ICAC) | centrifuge assembly | Natanz | destroyed and reportedly being rebuilt |
New Generation Centrifuge Assembly Center | centrifuge assembly | Natanz | operational |
Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) |
uranium enrichment with gas centrifuges |
Natanz |
operational |
Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) |
uranium enrichment with gas centrifuges |
Natanz |
operational |
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) |
uranium enrichment with gas centrifuges |
Fordow |
operational |
National Center for Vacuum Technology |
manufacture, testing, and calibration of vacuum equipment |
Fordow |
operational |
National Materials Science and Engineering Research Center |
testing radioactive materials |
Fordow |
operational |
Kalaye Electric Company |
gas centrifuge development and testing |
Tehran |
reportedly operational |
Khondab Heavy Water Production Plant (HWPP) |
heavy water production (used as a moderator in nuclear reactors) |
Arak |
operational |
Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor (IR-40) (20 MWt)[2] |
radioisotope production (by-products include plutonium) |
Arak |
redesign work ongoing |
Tehran Research Reactor (TRR) (5 MWt) |
radioisotope production |
Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) |
operational |
Jabr Ibn Hayan Multipurpose Laboratories (JHL) |
research, including on uranium metal, and the production of uranium metal disks |
Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) |
operational |
Molybdenum, Iodine, and Xenon Radioisotope Production Facility (MIX Facility) |
radioisotope production |
Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) |
operational |
Waste Handling Facility |
storage and disposal of radioactive waste |
Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) |
operational |
Bushehr-1 (Pressurized Water Reactor) (1,000 MWe) |
electricity production |
Bushehr |
operational |
Bushehr-2 (V-528 VVER-1000 Pressurized Water Reactor) (974MWe) |
electricity production |
Bushehr |
under construction |
Bushehr-3 (V-528 VVER-1000 Pressurized Water Reactor) (974MWe) |
electricity production |
Bushehr |
under construction |
Karun Nuclear Power Station (Pressurized Water Reactor) (300MWe) | electricity production | Darkhovin | under construction |
Turquzabad ("Location 1") |
allegedly storage of nuclear material and equipment; location of undeclared uranium |
South of Tehran |
partially demolished[3] |
Lavisan-Shian ("Location 2") |
drilling of natural uranium to produce metal flakes; calibration of neutron detectors; location of undeclared uranium |
near Lavisan-Shian |
demolished[3] |
Varamin ("Location 3") | undeclared pilot-scale facility for uranium processing and conversion; location of undeclared uranium | near Mobarakiyeh | demolished[3] |
Marivan ("Location 4") | testing of conventional explosives; explosive experiments in preparation for use of neutron detectors | near Abadeh | partially demolished[3] |
Taleghan 1 and 2 | allegedly testing high explosives and a neutron initiator | Parchin military complex | unknown |
Shahid Boroujerdi underground facility | allegedly manufacturing uranium metal components for nuclear weapons | Parchin military complex | unknown |
Golab Dareh | allegedly testing explosives | Parchin military complex | unknown |
Research Center for Explosion and Impact (METFAZ) Sanjarian facility | allegedly development and testing of a shock-wave generator and other nuclear weapon subcomponents; potentially nuclear explosives modeling | Sanjarian | unknown |
Pilot Uranium Laser Enrichment Plant |
uranium enrichment using lasers |
Lashkar Abad |
likely inactive[4] |
Karaj Waste Storage Facility |
radioactive waste storage |
Karaj Nuclear Research Center for Medicine and Agriculture |
operational |
Anarak Near-Surface Repository |
radioactive waste disposal |
Anarak |
operational |
[1] In January 2022, Iran informed the IAEA that it planned to produce centrifuge rotor tubes and bellows at a new location “in Esfahan” rather than at the TESA Karaj complex, which had been heavily damaged during an incident in 2021. Then, in April 2022, Iran told the IAEA that it had moved production equipment from the decommissioned Karaj facility to a location “at the Natanz site.” The Agency installed cameras at both workshops but was forced to remove them in June 2022. Eleven months later, in May 2023, the IAEA reported that it had reinstalled cameras in centrifuge “workshops at one location” in Esfahan. Thus it is not clear how many total workshops there are, where exactly the workshops “in Esfahan” are located, or whether the Natanz workshop is among those described as being “in Esfahan.” The IAEA has not explicitly confirmed whether any of the workshops is in operation. However, in the case of the Natanz workshop, the IAEA removed its seals from the equipment on April 12, 2022, and Iran informed the Agency that it would begin operation the following day, making it likely that at least that workshop is operational. See IAEA documents GOV/INF/2022/10, GOV/INF/2022/11, GOV/2022/39 (para. 48), GOV/2023/24 (paras. 9 and 74, and footnote 10).
[2] Iran renamed the IR-40 at Arak (commonly known as the Arak Heavy Water Reactor) as the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor in April 2017. The original design of the IR-40 reactor was for a power of 40 megawatts thermal (MWt); the JCPOA requires that the reactor be redesigned with a power not exceeding 20 MWt.
[3] Traces of uranium were discovered on site by IAEA inspectors in 2019 or 2020.
[4] Satellite imagery indicated activity as late as 2013 at the Pilot Uranium Laser Enrichment Plant, prompting the IAEA to visit the facility in March 2014. The JCPOA (Annex I, Section S, Paragraph 81) requires Iran to only enrich uranium using gas centrifuge technology, thereby prohibiting laser enrichment. The IAEA has made no subsequent mention of the Pilot Uranium Laser Enrichment Plant since 2014, suggesting that the facility is inactive.