By IANS
Tehran : Iran has started operation of three cascades of 164 new centrifuges in Natanz nuclear plant, citing a source official news agency IRNA reported Friday.
The operation was part of the second phase of 6,000 centrifuges, which was announced by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Tuesday, the source told IRNA on condition of anonymity.
After visiting the plant on the occasion of National Nuclear Achievement Day Tuesday, Ahmadinejad said that operations have started for installation of 6,000 P1 generation centrifuges.
He said the country has produced new generation of centrifuges that will be capable of working five times the P1 generation ones and research work on the project will come to an end by the next two to three months.
However, Western diplomats in Vienna expressed their doubts that the new centrifuges would work properly.
Dismissing those doubts, deputy head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Saeidi, said, “We have no technical problems with the centrifuges.”
“Those countries still not acknowledging Iran’s technical progress will eventually be forced to do so,” Saeidi told IRNA.
Earlier Friday, reports said that 18 of such 164-machine cascades of P1 generation centrifuges were busy in uranium enrichment work in Natanz.
The West has been accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of civil nuclear power programme. But Iran has been denying those charges saying its nuclear programme was for generating power for civilian use.
Wednesday, Ahmadinejad once again rejected international demands from Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment programmes and said no world power could stop Iran’s nuclear drive.