Iran needs more enrichment capacity: nuclear chief

Iran's atomic chief said on Sunday that Iran must increase its uranium enrichment capacity to 30 tons per year to meet the fuel needs of its Bushehr nuclear power plant, according to Tasnim news agency.

Iran is now enriching two and a half tons of uranium per year, while the minimum need is estimated at 30 tons a year, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said, adding that the West, however, does not agree on that amount.

Iran's uranium enrichment capacity remains one of the major differences between the Islamic republic and the West.

Iran's contract with Russia, which provides fuel for the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, along the Persian Gulf coast in southwestern Iran, will expire in eight years, and Iran should be allowed to fuel the plant by itself afterward, Salehi said.

"Eight years later, our (uranium) enrichment capacity must be 190,000 Separative Work Units to supply the 30 tons of enriched uranium for the Bushehr power plant," Salehi said.

Separative Work (SW) stands for the effort necessary to separate U235 and U238, which is measured in kilograms of SW.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif and his U.S. counterpart John Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday for a meeting prior to the bilateral nuclear talks.

Iran will first have bilateral negotiations with the United States in Geneva from Jan. 15 to 17, and then hold talks at the deputy foreign ministerial level on Jan. 18 with the P5+1 group, namely China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States, plus Germany.

Talks between Iran and the world powers resumed on Dec. 17, 2014, just weeks after failing to meet a Nov. 24 deadline for a comprehensive nuclear deal due to significant gaps over Iran's uranium enrichment abilities and how the sanctions should be removed.

Tehran and the world powers later agreed to extend their talks to July this year. Endit