U.S. Buying 32 Metric Tons Of Heavy Water From Iran’s Nuclear Program
The U.S. Department of Energy, or DOE, will buy 32 metric tons of heavy water worth $8.6 million, senior American officials said on Friday. Heavy water, or water containing the hydrogen isotope deuterium, is a non-radioactive key component for making one type of nuclear reactors and the development of atomic weapons.
The strategic substance is expected to be delivered within weeks. The deal to purchase the heavy water from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran aims to safeguard the aims of the groundbreaking nuclear accord reached in July of this year, mainly driven by concerns that Iran doesn’t have the capacity to reduce its stockpile in accordance with the deal by itself, the Wall Street Journal reported.
“Under the accord, Iran must keep its load of heavy water to below 130 tons during the initial years of the deal, and under 90 tons later. But U.S. officials said Iran has been struggling to find buyers for the material on the international market and that its stockpile is at risk of rising above that level.”
#US 2 purchase #heavywater from #Iran for $8.6 million, deal to be signed Fridayhttps://t.co/IPYQVXLS4F#IranDeal pic.twitter.com/i8ZqaYW13c
— Iran (@Iran) April 22, 2016
The July accords, in which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief, were signed between the U.S., Iran, and five other major powers. Under the deal, Iran is responsible for reducing its heavy water stockpile to 130 tonnes of heavy water at present, which it can dilute or dispose of, or sell. The U.S. also cannot produce heavy water itself, and hopes its purchase of the material will encourage other countries to purchase the substance from Iran in the coming years.
“The idea is: Okay, we tested it, it’s perfectly good heavy water. It meets spec. We’ll buy a little of this,” U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “That will be a statement to the world: ‘You want to buy heavy water from Iran, you can buy heavy water from Iran. It’s been done. Even the United States did it.'”
The DOE is expected to resell a portion of it to various industries for scientific research and medical use, according to Science magazine.
“DOE will resell a portion to industry for uses such as nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and protecting optical fibers and semiconductors against deterioration by blasting them with deuterium gas. DOE will also send 6 tons to Oak Ridge for an upgrade of the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS), the world’s most powerful accelerator-driven machine for generating neutrons for research.”
US buys 32 tonnes of heavy water from #Iran's nuclear plants for $8.6 million@DaveClark_AFPhttps://t.co/d4vlaO8Z2x pic.twitter.com/2Y1H8RicvF
— Dmitry Zaks (@dmitryzaksAFP) April 22, 2016
Some of the heavy water could also be sold to private companies for domestic commercial and research applications. Scientists and members of the DOE argue that purchasing the substance makes sense, since the U.S. shut down its production capacity in 1981, and Canada and India supply most of the world’s surplus for non-nuclear uses.
“We’re securing material that will allow us to do great science,” says Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, where the heavy water will be stored before being resold on the commercial market, according to Science.
Republican lawmakers in Congress swiftly criticized the decision, raising concerns that it was another example of the Obama Administration giving Iran too much leeway. The Department of Energy, however, defended the decision in a statement.
“The United States will not be Iran’s customer forever,” the DEO said, according to The Guardian. “It is exclusively Iran’s responsibility to find a way to meet its (nuclear deal) commitments, whether that is by selling, diluting or disposing of future stocks of heavy water to remain within the (deal’s) limit.”
Iran will also be required to sell its excess supplies of enriched uranium on the open international market in the coming months. The sale is expected to be finalized between U.S. officials and Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Abbas Araqchi, in Vienna on Friday morning.
[Photo by Getty Images]
