UN Inspectors Visit Iran's Arak Heavy-Water Plant

A general view of the heavy-water plant in Arak in August

Inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog have completed a one-day inspection of a nuclear facility in Iran.

The December 8 inspection at the Arak heavy-water production plant was the first visit to the site by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts in more than two years.

The inspection was part of a November 24 deal between Iran and six world powers.

The interim agreement calls for Iran to scale back on some of its nuclear program in exchange for an easing of international sanctions.

Under the deal, Iran has agreed not to commission the Arak reactor.

The West fears that the plant under construction at Arak, about 300 kilometers southwest of Tehran, could be used to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

The inspectors are expected to release their findings about the Arak facility after returning to the IAEA headquarters in Vienna.

Iranian state television quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, earlier in the day as saying IAEA experts had begun their one-day inspection of the facility.

Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa, and BBC




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Based on reporting AFP, dpa, and AP