Iran’s Highly Enriched Uranium from Spent Fuel? Not Hardly
BY Herschel Smith
18 years, 3 months ago
In what may just be the most boneheaded quote I have ever seen in print, the Washington Post says:
Also, traces of highly enriched uranium, which can be used for the core of a weapon, were discovered through environmental samples taken at another facility. Previous traces were found to have been the result of used and discarded centrifuge equipment the Iranians bought from Pakistan. Officials at the IAEA said privately yesterday that the new contamination appears to be from old spent fuel the Iranians moved out of harm’s way during their eight-year war with Iraq.
No, not hardly. Highly enriched Uranium does not come from spent fuel. Further, if the argument from the IAEA was that actinides were found which were initially thought to be highly enriched Uranium, this would mean that spent fuel (note, not the gap gases inside the fuel cladding, but actual pieces of fuel pellets), in pulverized or powdered form suitable for gamma spectroscopy had become available on the surfaces of components, leading us to believe that someone took a pulverizing machine and created powdered spent fuel. Of course, I am being sarcastic.
Finally, highly enriched Uranium includes highly enriched Uranium, i.e., U-235. Spent Fuel includes other actinides, such as Thorium, Neptunium, Americium, Curium, etc. The two cannot be mistaken for each other. Highly enriched Uranium is not spent fuel, and spent fuel is not highly enriched Uranium.
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