In his January 8 report titled “How quickly could Iran make nuclear weapons today?” Albright argues that “Iran can quickly make enough weapon-grade uranium for many nuclear weapons, something it could not do in 2003. Today, it would need only about a week to produce enough for its first nuclear weapon. It could have enough weapon-grade uranium for six weapons in one month, and after five months of producing weapon-grade uranium, it could have enough for twelve.”
Albright, the founder and president of the prominent Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, noted that “Iran could also immediately start preparatory work on transforming the weapons-grade uranium into nuclear weapon components in anticipation of later receiving weapon-grade uranium.
“It accomplished a considerable amount of such work during the Amad Plan, and subsequently at civilian nuclear facilities at Esfahan during the last several years as part of Iran’s buildup of its nuclear program, including the production of a small amount of 20% enriched uranium metal, a material that can stand in for weapon-grade uranium.”
Iran's current nuclear power
Albright, who was a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, wrote that “Iran’s growing nuclear weapons capability is often condemned, most recently in a December 28 joint statement by the United States and its close European allies. The occasion was the Iranian action to expand its output of 60% enriched uranium. READ MORE
