Iran Is Not a Uranium-Rich Country

Iran does not possess substantial uranium resources. Even if it did, it would take eight to ten years to process the uranium into the fuel needed for nuclear power plants.

According to a report by the American think tank Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) Iran may be close to exhausting its supplies of uranium oxide and lacks the resources to sustain processing and enrichment activities.

Comment by Dr. Ahmad Gharib, nuclear fuel expert for Iranian Diplomacy:

We don’t have substantial uranium resources inside the country. However, the existing resources haven’t been used largely, so we can’t say uranium sources are about to end. According to IAEA reports, Iran possesses unused uranium resources and fuel which is sufficient for a 5-year-activity in Bushehr power plant.

Iran does not possess substantial uranium resources. Even if it did, it would take eight to ten years to process the uranium into the fuel needed for nuclear power plants.

Undiscovered resources

It is said that Iran may have rich uranium resources but studies for discovering these supposed resources haven’t been carried out yet. This is not true. The required studies have been conducted and much has been spent on discovering likely resources. Why these efforts have been fruitless is itself a matter of question. The carried out studies may be incomplete, but in general clearly Iran is not a uranium-rich country and has limited resources. It is unlikely that after several years of exploration we find for example 10 thousand tons of uranium.