Technical setbacks cause Iran to falter in push to enrich uranium, report says

[bananas]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/10/AR2010021003988.html

Technical setbacks cause Iran to falter in push to enrich uranium, report says

By Joby Warrick and Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 11, 2010

Iran is experiencing surprising setbacks in its efforts to enrich uranium, according to new assessments that suggest that equipment failures and other difficulties could undermine that nation's plans for dramatically scaling up its nuclear program.
...
Now a new assessment, based on three years of internal data from U.N. nuclear inspections, suggests that Iran's mechanical woes are deeper than previously known. At least through the end of 2009, the Natanz plant appears to have performed so poorly that sabotage cannot be ruled out as an explanation, according to a draft study by David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS). A copy of the report was provided to The Washington Post.
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A separate, forthcoming analysis by the Federation of American Scientists also describes Iran's flagging performance and suggests that continued failures may increase Iran's appetite for a deal with the West. Ivan Oelrich, vice president of the federation's Strategic Security Program, said Iranian leaders appear to have raced into large-scale uranium production for political reasons.

"They are really struggling to reproduce what is literally half-century-old European technology and doing a really bad job of it," Oelrich said.
...

Originally posted in LBN: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4265257

[GliderGuider]

1. I wonder if this is one of the "technical setbacks"?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x230560