“Iran now could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to arm a nuclear bomb within two to four months but would still face serious ‘engineering challenges’ — and much longer delays — before it would be able to use the material in an atomic warhead, a respected US think tank said Monday,” reports the Associated Press. “The Institute for Science and International Security did not make a judgment on whether Iran plans to turn its enrichment capabilities toward weapons making. But in its report made available to The Associated Press ahead of publication Monday, it drew a clear distinction between Tehran’s ability to make the fissile core of warhead by producing 25 kilograms (55 pounds) weapons-grade uranium from its lower enriched stockpiles and the warhead itself. ‘Despite work it may have done in the past,’ Iran would need ‘many additional months to manufacture a nuclear device suitable for underground testing and even longer to make a reliable warhead for a ballistic missile,’ the report said….Uranium enriched to 20 percent can be turned into weapons-grade material much more quickly than low-enriched uranium. If the centrifuges at Fordo that now are idle also start operating and are used to make 20 percent material, Iran — using its total enrichment output of low and higher grade uranium — could produce enough weapons grade uranium for a warhead within three or four weeks, said the summary.”
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