Iran's key nuclear sites

Iran's nuclear ambitions continue to cause controversy despite a US intelligence report in December 2007 that concluded Iran was not currently running a military nuclear programme. Use the map below to find out more about its key nuclear facilities.

BUSHEHR - Nuclear power station

The Bushehr nuclear power station (image: DigitalGlobe)

Iran's nuclear programme began in 1974 with plans to build a nuclear power station at Bushehr with German assistance.

The project was abandoned because of the Islamic revolution five years later, but revived in the 1990s when Tehran signed an agreement with Russia to resume work at the site.

Moscow delayed completion on the project while the UN Security Council debated and then passed resolutions aimed at stopping uranium enrichment in Iran.

In December 2007, Moscow started delivering the canisters of enriched uranium the plant needs.

Earlier in the same month, a US intelligence report said Iran was not currently running a military nuclear programme.

There are two pressurised water reactors at the site.

One of these should go on stream in early 2008.

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ISFAHAN - Uranium conversion plant

Isfahan uranium conversion plant

Iran is building a plant at a nuclear research facility to convert uranium ore into three forms:

Hexafluoride gas - used in gas centrifuges

Uranium oxide - used to fuel reactors, albeit not the type Iran is constructing

Metal - often used in the cores of nuclear bombs. The IAEA is concerned about the metal's use, as Iran's reactors do not require it as fuel.

In depth: The nuclear fuel cycle

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NATANZ - Uranium enrichment plant

A recent satellite image of the Natanz site Enlarge Image

Iran resumed uranium enrichment work at Natanz in July 2004, after a halt during negotiations with leading European powers over its programme.

It announced in September 2007 that it had installed 3,000 centrifuges, the machines that do the enrichment.

This is the facility at the heart of Iran's dispute with the United Nations Security Council.

The Council is concerned because the technology used for producing fuel for nuclear power can be used to enrich the uranium to a much higher level to produce a nuclear explosion.

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ARAK - Heavy water plant

The Arak plant in 2002 (image: DigitalGlobe)

The existence of a heavy water facility near the town of Arak first emerged with the publication of satellite images by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security in December 2002.

Heavy water is used to moderate the nuclear fission chain reaction either in a certain type of reactor - albeit not the type that Iran is currently building - or produce plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb.

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