After hitting what they thought were nuclear sites in Iran last year, the US basically "entombed" a lot of radioactive material at a facility near Isfahan.Even though getting to the material is still hard, people are worried that Iran could get to the nuclear weapon building piece through a "narrow point."Trump responded, "Right now we're just decimating them, but we haven't gone after it," when asked last night if he would send ground troops to get the uranium. But we may do it later on. We wouldn't do that now.
The US didn't get the element back last year because they decided it was too risky.The US and Israel have attacked Iran, focusing on its military strength, leadership, and nuclear program.
The US thinks that Iran possesses about 970 pounds of enriched uranium, most of which is stored at the nuclear site in Isfahan.The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is the UN's nuclear watchdog, and US intelligence both say that Iran stopped making nuclear weapons in 2003.
But the IAEA says that Tehran has kept enriching uranium in recent years, even to levels close to weapons-grade.The recent US strikes on Iran in June hit all three of the plants where that was going on.
Since the "12-day war" in the summer of 2012, Iran has not let the UN look at either of the damaged sites at Fordow, Natanz, or Esfahan.Iran now enriches uranium to levels close to those needed for weapons, 60%, which is the highest level in the world for a government without a nuclear weapons program.Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% purity and keep a stockpile of 300 kg of uranium as part of a nuclear accord in 2015.
Uranium has a radioactive isotope called U-235 that can be utilized to make electricity. It gets stronger the more refined it is, or enriched. Spinning U-235 in a container called a centrifuge makes it more powerful.
Nuclear power plants only need uranium that is 0.7% to 5% enriched, but weapons-grade nuclear warheads need 90% enriched uranium.The IAEA says that Iran possesses roughly 400 kg of uranium that is 60% enriched. This is enough for ten warheads at 90% enrichment.Iran Watch says that in four months, Iran may have enough enriched uranium for one weapon, and in one year and eight months, it could have enough for five weapons.But it's important to remember that Iran would also need to make a missile and a warhead that could carry it.
