Iran plans to install 6,000 nuclear centrifuges. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced the news today — Iran's "National Day of Nuclear Technology." Today, state television plays patriotic music, and Iranian children chant "nuclear energy is our natural right" in honor of the national holiday. I wasn't exactly sure what a centrifuge does, but it sounded serious so I checked into it.
OK, here's the low down: centrifuges are used to enrich uranium, which can be used to build nuclear bombs. Iran probably already has 3,000 centrifuges, and tripling the number will significantly increase its nuclear capacity. Iran says it's innocently pursuing alternative nuclear energy, and that the country has the right to proceed with peaceful enrichment. But, the UN Security Council has demanded it cease enrichment, and has repeatedly sanctioned Iran.
Whether or not Iran has intentions to build a nuclear weapon, it's clearly intent on defying Western powers and international pressure. China announced today that officials from world powers will meet in Shanghai on April 16 to discuss Iran's nuclear program. Will sanctions help convince an Iran content on not making concessions?
Bruno Magli
Radley
Juan Antonio Lopez
Hmmmm, are we going to wait for the UN to sanction Iran for 10-12 years before we go in and do what needs to be done? It seems to me that a diplomatic solution isn't going to work here.
1But isn't the US supposed to do what the UN says?
2i ran, i ran so far away...
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/play.shtml?mea=169811
3It doesn't seem like anyone listens to what the UN says, or NATO for that matter. I'm afraid they're going to go the way of the League of Nations. Not to sound like a war monger, but these groups do have muscle to back up what they want, but member nations as a whole seem hesitant to use that force. Iraq of course being an example of that.
I think you can sanction Iran all day long, but until meaningful changes take place within the country itself I doubt it's going to do anything.
4Our school celebrated "nuclear enrichment day" once. And then we all got cancer.
5Sy, that was beautiful!
6You could be the port that I park my vessel in.....
7my favorite is
8like a very hairy jake gyllenhal to me
Jake Gyllenhal! Where!!!!
9Actually, what centrifuges do is they spin things around really freaking fast. The heaviest bits in a solution settle to the bottom and the lightest bits stay at the top, with everything else separated in between by weight. What they are used for is enriching plutonium as well as a zillion other things in every single science lab in existence. Given the focus on these so called nuclear centrifuges, I assume that they are more tricked-out version of the standard lab centrifuges.
10Is it just me, or is the picture of Ahmadinejad look like he is sneering at the camera?
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