Iran and Enriched Uranium

In News

• Iran’s atomic agency said that its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium has reached over 210 kilograms.
  • It is the latest defiant move ahead of upcoming nuclear talks with the West. 

Uranium as a Fuel

• Nuclear fuel is mined from naturally occurring uranium ore deposits and then isolated through chemical reactions and separation processes.
• Natural uranium consists of two different isotopes: 
  • nearly 99% U-238 and 
  • only around 0.72% of U-235.
• U-238 is not fissile, thus the concentration of U-235 must be increased before it can be effectively used as a nuclear fuel.
  • U-235 being a fissile material sustains a chain reaction in a nuclear reactor.
• Uranium enrichment is a process that creates an effective nuclear fuel out of mined uranium by increasing the percentage of uranium-235.
  • Enrichment process basically increases the proportion of U-235 through the process of isotope separation (U-238 is separated from U-235).
• For nuclear Weapons
  • Highly Enriched Uranium or weapons-grade uranium
  • For which enrichment is required up to 90% or more.
• For Nuclear Reactor
  • Low Enriched Uranium or reactor-grade uranium
  • Enrichment is required upto 3-4% only.

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)

• Also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal.
• The JCPOA was the result of prolonged negotiations from 2013 and 2015 between Iran and the P5+1 
  • China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and the EU.
• The deal promises Iran economic incentives in exchange for limits on its nuclear programme, and is meant to prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
  • Iran committed to drastically reduce its stockpiles of weapon grade Uranium, including centrifuges, enriched uranium, and heavy water.
  • Iran was not meant to enrich uranium above 3.67% which was meant to fulfill its energy requirement. 
• The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was instrumental in enforcing the agreement by monitoring Iran and conducting inspections.
• The U.S. unilaterally pulled out of the nuclear deal in 2018 but Britain, France, Germany,China and Russia have tried to preserve the accord

Iran’s Maximum Resistance

• Tensions rose after the U.S. pushed unilateral sanctions, widening its scope to cover nearly all Iranian banks connected to the global financial system.
• Earlier Iran’s response was muted as the E-3 (France, Germany, the U.K.) and the EU promised to find ways to mitigate the U.S. decision.
  • The E-3’s in 2019 created Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), to facilitate trade with Iran.
• However, the anticipated economic relief failed to materialize, thus pushing Iran’s strategic patience. 
  • Tehran thus shifted to a strategy of ‘maximum resistance’.
• Thereafter, Iran has been steadily breaking its commitments to pressurise the remaining signatories to find a way to provide sanctions relief.
  • Iran has produced 25 kg 60% enriched uranium.
  • A level that only countries with nuclear weapons have the physical capabilities to produce.

India-Iran relations

• Regional Connectivity: 
  • Removing sanctions will rekindle India’s interest in the Chabahar and Bandar Abbas ports.
  • India’s interest in the International North-South Transit Corridor (INSTC), which runs through Iran, 
    • will improve connectivity with five Central Asian republics will also get a boost.
• Indian Ocean Security:
  • This would assist India in neutralising China’s footprint in Pakistan’s Gwadar port.
  • Also, will help counter China’s alleged String of Pearls Policy.
• Energy Security:
  • Due to the US’ Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), India has to bring down oil imports to zero.
  • Re-establishment of links between the US and Iran will help India to procure cheap Iranian oil and aid in energy security.

Way Forward

• After months of delays, the European Union, Iran and the U.S. will go for  indirect talks to resuscitate the deal.
• Continuous Dialogue:
  • All countries part of the 2015 deal should engage constructively and resolve all issues peacefully and through dialogue.
• Peaceful Globe:
  • Both the USA and Iran must act with strategic restraint as any crisis in West Asia will not only affect the region as a whole 
  • but will have a detrimental impact on global affairs as well.

• In the words of General Omar Bradley, 
  • Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
  • We know more about war than about peace, more about killing than living.
  • We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the sermon on the mount.

Source: TH