The three enrichment methods and why Iran has to comply with rules that others (like Israel) do not have to comply with.
Much has been heard about the uranium enrichment carried out in recent times by Iran, which would have motivated what was orchestrated by Israel and the USA and which is affecting the economies of the entire world. Although uranium is mainly known as a fuel for nuclear power plants, its enrichment makes it possible to increase the concentration of uranium fissile isotope uranium-235which can bring a country closer to the ability to manufacture nuclear weapons.
In its natural form, uranium is mainly composed of uranium-238, which represents more than 99.3% of the total. Uranium-235, responsible for sustaining a nuclear chain reaction capable of releasing large amounts of energy, constitutes only around 0.7%.
It is precisely this low percentage that makes enrichment necessary for use in reactors or, in much higher concentrations, in armament.
Three methods
Historically, one of the first enrichment methods was gaseous diffusion. In this process, uranium is combined with fluorine to form gaseous uranium hexafluoride, which passes through successive barriers, explains . Because molecules containing uranium-235 are lighter, they move more quickly than those carrying uranium-238, which allows the isotopes to gradually separate.
Currently, the most used method is gas centrifuge. The gas is introduced into cylinders that rotate very quickly, pushing the heavier molecules to the periphery and leaving the lighter ones, associated with uranium-235, closer to the center. The enriched material is then transformed into uranium dioxide and compressed into fuel pellets.
A third method is still being developed, based on laserwith which it is desired to separate isotopes through chemical changes induced by monochromatic light.
Why so much fuss
The concern is not just about the fact that these technologies exist. The uranium used in most civilian nuclear reactors is low enriched, typically between 3% and 5% uranium-235. There are also variants with slightly higher concentrations, designed for more advanced reactors. But when the concentration reaches 20% or more, the material becomes classified as highly enriched uranium.
Iran will possess and inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency will have detected particles with 83,7% of uranium-235 in 2023. As the threshold associated with nuclear weapons is around 90%, these values are seen as particularly sensitive.
Iran has said that it does not use its nuclear program to manufacture nuclear weapons and that the program is civilian and peaceful and aimed at civilian purposes. But the level of enriched uranium indicated by the IAEA is far above what is needed for power plants — Iran will even be the only state without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to that level.
Iran has signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) since 1970 as a non-nuclear weapons state. It has pledged not to manufacture nuclear weapons and to accept IAEA safeguards to verify that nuclear material is not diverted for military use.
On the other hand, the USA is one of the five states with nuclear weapons recognized by the NPT — a category that the treaty reserved for countries that had detonated a nuclear device before January 1, 1967, according to . The NPT does not morally “authorize” these arsenals, but it legalizes the historical distinction between recognized nuclear states and adherent non-nuclear states.
Already Israel did not accede to the treatynor has it ever confirmed whether or not it has nuclear weapons. In the Israeli reading, the State did not violate any commitment, which can be read as a form of double standards.
