The United States is putting pressure on Tehran not to produce heavy water, also known as deuterium oxide, but American companies are buying it from Iran, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Saturday.
The United States is eager to put pressure on us not to produce heavy water, but in the end, it is seen that American companies are buying Iran’s heavy water, Amirabdollahian said at Tehran University, as quoted by the IRNA news agency.
The foreign minister also stated, citing an unnamed Western official, that testing carried out in laboratories showed that Iran produces the highest quality heavy water in the world, he said.
Iran is considered to be one of the top five manufacturers of this drug in the world, with high purity and efficiency, despite the restrictions that have been placed on the country. A lot of developed nations are interested in purchasing it.
One of the country’s largest nuclear facilities is the Khondab Heavy Water Complex (Arak), located 75 kilometres northwest of Arak and 5 kilometres away from Khondab. 1998 marked the beginning of the development of this complex. In 2006, it started functioning.
This complex’s two heavy water production units had the potential to produce 8 tonnes of heavy water annually, bringing the total amount of heavy water produced annually to 16 tonnes. On the other hand, the output of this complex has reached 20 tonnes per year since 2014. Iran is one of the countries in the world capable of producing more than one hundred kilogrammes of heavy water that is extremely pure annually. Officials from the Khondab Heavy Water Complex have stated that no other nation has ever been able to produce such a large quantity of heavy water of such a good grade in a single year.
Following the nuclear agreement that was reached in 2015, Iran was prohibited from producing more than 130 tonnes of heavy water on an annual basis and was required to dispose of any excess quantities in other nations. Even though the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran continued to fulfil its nuclear commitments in certain areas. However, beginning in 2020, this commitment to heavy water production was not implemented within the scope of reciprocal acts, and Iran’s stocks exceeded the limit of 130 tonnes. Despite this, these reserves have not substantially surpassed 130 tonnes due to the sale of heavy water to several other countries. Iran is still seriously considering the possibility of selling heavy water even though it is subject to international and nuclear sanctions.
The Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) facility can produce heavy water as a byproduct and enrich uranium. It is located close to the city of Qom. Approximately six metric tonnes of heavy water can be produced annually by the FFEP, according to the current estimations.
