JAKARTA - The UN nuclear watchdog is in discussions with Iran over the origins of enriched uranium particles to a purity of 83.7 percent, very close to weapons levels, at the Fordow enrichment plant.
Diplomats said last week the agency had found these traces at the Fordow Fuel Financing Plant (FFEP), where Iran enriched uranium to 60 percent purity.
It is known, the level of gun purity is around 90 percent. Meanwhile, although a spike in enrichment levels can occur and this could be accidental, this spike is relatively large.
Traces were found in products from two interconnected cascades, or clusters, advanced centrifuges at Fordow that enriched up to 60 percent.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) rebuked Iran in a previous report for making substantial changes to the cascades without informing them.
"Regarding the origin of the enriched particles above 60 percent U-235, identified after the implementation of the new cascade configuration at FFEP, discussions with Iran are still ongoing," the IAEA secret report told member states.
"Iran informs the International Atomic Energy Agency that accidental fluctuations in enrichment levels may have occurred during the transition period at the time of enrichment (60 percent) November 2022 or when replacing feeder cylinders," the report added.
The report also said Iran's enriched uranium stock of up to 60 percent, produced in two locations, had increased 25.2 kg to 87.5 kg since the latest quarterly report.
The total supply of enriched uranium to that level and lower levels is estimated at 3,760.8 kg, the report said.
According to the IAEA terminology, about 42 kg of uranium enriched with 60 percent purity is a "significant amount", which is defined as "an estimate of the amount of nuclear material that makes it possible to make nuclear explosive devices".
However, a senior diplomat warned that in practice more than 55 kg of uranium enriched up to 60 percent was needed to make one bomb, as some materials were wasted during enrichment.
Iran denies targeting the manufacture of nuclear weapons, saying it only wants to master nuclear technology for civilian purposes.
It is known that a second quarterly report on years of investigations into traces of uranium found in three unannounced locations in Iran, which will also be released before a meeting of the 35-member IAEA Board of Governors next week, will not be issued until this weekend, diplomats said.
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