Did you know that the same technology used to power a city can also be used to build a nuclear bomb?
Uranium enrichment is a process that increases the amount of uranium-235 in natural uranium, making it usable as fuel for nuclear reactors or, in much larger quantities, for nuclear weapons.
Natural uranium contains only about 0,7 percent uranium-235, which is not enough for most applications. Enrichment increases this percentage, allowing the uranium to serve a variety of purposes.
The level of enrichment is crucial. Low-enriched uranium (3-5 percent uranium-235) fuels most nuclear reactors, while research reactors can use uranium enriched up to 20 percent. To make a nuclear weapon, uranium must be enriched to at least 90 percent - known as weapons-grade uranium.
The closer a country gets to this level, the greater the international concern.
Iran's nuclear program remains under scrutiny for its uranium enrichment activities. Although Iran insists its program is for peaceful energy and medical research, the same technology could be used to produce nuclear weapons if enrichment continues at higher levels.
In recent years, Iran has been producing uranium enriched to 60 percent, a significant technical step closer to weapons-grade material. This has raised concerns about how quickly Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium if it chose to do so.
Iran is currently the only non-nuclear weapons state that enriches uranium to 60 percent purity. It increased enrichment from 20 to 60 percent in April 2021, following a sabotage attack on the Natanz nuclear facility, which Iran blamed on Israel.
Earlier this month, the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution declaring Iran in non-compliance with its nuclear obligations. The board cited Iran's failure to fully cooperate regarding undeclared nuclear materials and activities.
Iran criticized the resolution and announced plans to launch a new enrichment facility and expand its enrichment capacity.
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