Iran Ready to Start Up First Nuclear Reactor

whupwr

August 2010
Photo: AP

The reactor building of Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside the city of Bushehr 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran, 20 Aug 2010.


Iran is making final preparations to start up a nuclear reactor at the Bushehr facility, scheduled to begin operations Saturday.

Russia, which helped build the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran, on Friday gave assurances that Tehran will not be able to use fuel intended for the plant to create nuclear weapons.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency that Russia will deliver the fuel for the reactor and will then recycle the waste in accordance with nonproliferation requirements.  He gave "total 100 percent guarantees" that the use will be peaceful.

Many in the international community suspect Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.  Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.   

The head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, meanwhile says the country will continue to enrich uranium to use as nuclear fuel despite the Russian supply.

Salehi told the Iranian news agency IRNA that the country will need more fuel for Bushehr, as well as for future plants.  He said Tehran is in the final stages of finding suitable locations for 10 new uranium enrichment facilities.

The United States, the United Nations and the European Union have imposed tough sanctions on Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

In an unrelated development, The New York Times reported that U.S. officials have assured Israel that Iran would need at least one year to convert nuclear material into a weapon.  

The newspaper says Obama administration officials believe the assessment dims the chance that Israel will pre-emptively strike Iran's nuclear facilities within the next year -- something that Israel has previously hinted it would consider.

Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence because of repeated calls by Iranian leaders for the demise of the Jewish state.  Israel has indicated it would respond with a military strike if it believes Iran is close to attaining a nuclear weapon.

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伊朗核电站命运“柳暗花明” 揭示西亚现新态势羊城晚报      2010-08-208月13日，俄罗斯原子能集团宣布将于21日为伊朗布什尔核电站反应堆装载核燃料。因“技术问题”迟迟无法启动的布什尔核电站的命运开始“柳暗花明”，这一突然转变揭示了美国战略重心东移之后亚洲西部战略态势的趋紧。
　　早在上世纪70年代，德黑兰就谋求通过与德国西门子集团的合作获取核电站，但在美国的压力下德国人最终退出，取而代之的是俄罗斯人。1995年俄伊两国签署的协议注明核电站将于1999年竣工，但由于莫斯科在美国、伊朗之间的摇摆，工期一再以“技术问题”的借口遭到延长。
　　这十多年间，俄罗斯游走于美伊之间，同时对两方讨好或者施压，其中重要杠杆便是布什尔核电站。这一局面出现的背景是美国从未退出欧亚大陆西部舞台，一直保持着对俄罗斯的战略压力，科索沃和伊拉克两场战争以及北约东扩、反导系统是其具体表现。在这种战略布局中，中国得以站在俄罗斯身后，远离美国的锋芒。
　　而如今，奥巴马政府领导下的美国却实现了战略重心的大转移。告别伊拉克以及中止通过北约、反导系统对俄罗斯的打压，美国在告别小布什外交遗产的同时，正在将战略重心东移，转移至新的全球力量中心———东亚。美国利用“天安号”事件重返东亚之后，中国开始直面美国，俄罗斯的紧张得到缓解。而亚洲西部的战略态势则开始由几个地区级国家唱主角，其中伊朗、俄罗斯、以色列等国扮演主要角色。
　　唯一的超级大国美国的战略撤退意味着曾被压制的矛盾即将暴露出来，这其中以色列与伊斯兰国家的关系为甚，土耳其、黎巴嫩和伊朗先后在一系列事件中刺激到以色列的神经。安卡拉在“自由舰队”被劫事件中的表现标志着土耳其外交回归伊斯兰世界、以色列则失去了一位重要盟友；黎巴嫩与以色列因为一棵树的争端让特拉维夫感到周边安全的紧张；而以色列的“心腹大患”伊朗在获得布什尔核电站之后将更加使得特拉维夫为伊核问题感到担忧。
　　正是在这一背景下，俄罗斯重新祭出布什尔核电站这一法宝，并破天荒的准备让其开始运转。在俄罗斯同意美国制裁伊朗决议之后，内贾德曾猛烈抨击俄罗斯背信弃义，但布什尔核电站命运的转变则证明在危机可能爆发的关头，俄伊仍在同一个战壕当中。俄方宣布为布什尔核电站装燃料之后，美国前联合国大使博尔顿随即称，以色列还有8天时间准备对伊朗的轰炸。这一表态成为眼下紧张态势的最好注解。
　　很难说是俄罗斯启动核电站的举动促成了这番紧张，在美国战略退出后，以伊之间的矛盾迟早要暴露。相反，莫斯科通过这一举动表明了立场，打消在支持美国制裁决议时给人的摇摆姿态，这些都将给以色列莫大的压力。日前，以色列军队在罗马尼亚演练攻打伊朗，而俄罗斯则恰到好处地将伊朗梦寐以求的S-300导弹部署于伊朗北面的阿布哈兹，客观上为伊朗北部设置了一道防护网。莫斯科的两手棋与其说是在点火，不如说是警告以色列的灭火之举。而就在这一紧张局面的背景下，传来了巴以即将直接和谈的消息，为地区局势再泼一盆冷水。
　　美国退出后的亚洲西部必将成为各方新的角力场，而俄罗斯则依靠着与伊朗的传统关系重新成为这一棋局中的重要选手。其中的直接参与者以色列、伊朗、黎巴嫩都将在俄、美等国的外场牵制中走完新的战略回合。
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whupwr

Iran nuclear plant fueling

(CNN) -- Iran began fueling its first nuclear energy plant in the southern city of Bushehr on Saturday, the nation's state media reported.
The effort will help the country create nuclear-generated electricity, Press TV said.
The transfer of nuclear fuel was being watched by the International Atomic Energy Agency and senior officials from Iran and Russia, Press TV said.
Some Western nations have questioned whether the nuclear fuel will be used solely for electricity or would Iran eventually try to enrich uranium on its own, providing material for nuclear weapons.
It will take about two months for the reactor to begin generating electricity, state media has reported. Russia's nuclear agency says it will take longer.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, recently asserted Iran's right to establish nuclear plants.
Sergei Kiriyenko, general director of Rosatom, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation said Saturday's arrival of nuclear fuel marks "an event of crucial importance" that proves that "Russia always fulfills its international obligations."
Spent nuclear fuel from the plant will be sent back to Russia.
The opening of the plant prompted the White House to question Iran continuing to enrich uranium within its borders.
"Russia is providing the fuel, and taking the fuel back out," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said earlier this month.
"It, quite clearly, I think, underscores that Iran does not need its own enrichment capability if its intentions, as it states, are for a peaceful nuclear program," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, speaking to Russian reporters in the Black Sea resort of Sochi Wednesday, brushed off Western concerns about the Bushehr facility, calling it "the most important anchor holding Iran to the nonproliferation regime," according to the Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.
Alistair Burt, Britain's foreign minister, said on Saturday the development "demonstrates that Iran can have the benefits of nuclear power."
"The problem is Iran's continued refusal to satisfy the IAEA and international community that its work on uranium enrichment and heavy water projects are exclusively peaceful."
The Bushehr facility was originally scheduled to start operations in 2007, but the date for commissioning the plant has been postponed a number of times due to various technical, financial and political factors.

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做对的事情比把事情做对重要。  

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