US device seen at supected Iran atomic site-sources

Louis Charbonneau |VIENNA |24 Jun 2004

 (Reuters) - A radiation monitoring device spotted in Iran at a razed site where Washington suspects Iran conducted covert atomic bomb-related research was itself made in the United States and sold directly to Tehran, sources said.

New image shows Iran fully razed suspected nuke site

Louis Charbonneau | VIENNA | 24 Jun 2004

(Reuters) - A new satellite image obtained on Wednesday by Reuters shows Iran has almost completely scraped clean a suspected nuclear site in Tehran, which the United States says is proof of an attempt to hide a weapons programme.

CORRECTED - US device seen at supected Iran atomic site-sources

24 Jun 2004 00:27:01 GMT

In VIENNA, June 23, story "US device seen at supected Iran atomic site-sources", please read in paragraph 5 ...U.S. firm DigitalGlobe's... instead of ...U.S. firm GlobalDigital's... (correcting company name).

A corrected story follows.

By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA, June 23 (Reuters) - A radiation monitoring device spotted in Iran at a razed site where Washington suspects Iran conducted covert atomic bomb-related research was itself made in the United States and sold directly to Tehran, sources said.

A Western diplomat and an independent nuclear expert who follow the Vienna-based U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) told Reuters the radiation detection device -- called a "whole body counter" -- was identified as having been made by the Connecticut-based firm Canberra Industries, Inc.

The disclosure could prove embarrassing to Washington which has accused Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons programme and has called on countries to crack down on exports of even seemingly innocent machinery that could be used in weapons programmes.

Tehran says it only wants nuclear power for electricity.

"There is no doubt that the whole-body counter came from Canberra Industries and under a legal export," said the nuclear science expert, who has analysed satellite images of the site taken by the U.S. firm DigitalGlobe's Quickbird satellite.

The counter, used to measure radiation contamination in humans, was sold directly to a university or hospital in Iran in the early 1990s with a U.S. export licence, the sources said.

The device was seen at Lavizan, situated near a military installation in Tehran. Satellite images of Lavizan show Tehran razed buildings and removed a significant amount of topsoil. Ironically, the U.S.-made device is the reason U.S. officials are convinced Iran pursued undeclared atomic activity there.

"The presence of the whole body counter there is weird and out of place, but it doesn't prove that there was any weapons activity going on at Lavizan," said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) and a former U.N. weapons inspector.

"We need to know how it got there (from the hospital or university) and why," he added.

Lavizan was first mentioned in May 2003, when a group of Iranian exiles said it was a biological weapons research site.

Iran vehemently denied that it has conducted any undeclared nuclear or weapons-related activities at Lavizan. But a diplomat close to the IAEA said inspectors would go there "very soon".

NEW DEMOLITION WORK AT SUSPECT SITE

Canberra Industries declined to comment, but an industry source familiar with devices like whole-body counter said it was a "totally innocuous" device designed for peaceful activity.

Asked if the counter could be modified to detect plutonium or other substances to make it usable in weapons-related activity, the source, who declined to be identified, said:

"Very theoretically speaking, all kinds of things can be done," the source said.

Last week, Reuters obtained from ISIS and GlobalDigital two satellite photos taken in August 2003 and March 2004 that showed Iran had dismantled buildings and removed rubble and topsoil at the site, called the Lavizan-Shiyan Technical Research Centre.

The U.S. ambassador to the IAEA, Kenneth Brill, accused Iran of using "the wrecking ball and bulldozer" to sanitise Lavizan prior to the arrival of U.N. inspectors.

"This destruction at the site raised concerns because it is the type of measure Iran would need to take if it was trying to defeat the powerful environmental sampling capabilities of IAEA inspectors," ISIS said in an analysis of the images.

Last week the IAEA Board of Governors unanimously passed a resolution that sharply rebuked Iran for not cooperating fully with a U.N. investigation of Tehran's nuclear programme.

The IAEA began investigating Iran after an Iranian exile group reported in August 2002 that Tehran was hiding a massive uranium enrichment facility and other sites from the IAEA.

- - - - - -

The top image was taken 11 August 2003, the lower image on 22 March 2004 (Image: DigitalGlobe/ISIS)

pic courtesy of New Scientist

CORRECTED - New image shows Iran fully razed suspected nuke site

24 Jun 2004 00:29:22 GMT

In VIENNA, June 23, story "New image shows Iran fully razed suspected nuke site", please read in paragraph 2 ...DigitalGlobe satellite firm... instead of ...GlobalDigital satellite firm... (correcting company name).

A corrected story follows.

By Louis Charbonneau

VIENNA, June 23 (Reuters) - A new satellite image obtained on Wednesday by Reuters shows Iran has almost completely scraped clean a suspected nuclear site in Tehran, which the United States says is proof of an attempt to hide a weapons programme.

A satellite image from May 10, taken by the DigitalGlobe satellite firm and provided to Reuters by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) in Washington, shows clearly that Iran has almost completed the task of razing the Lavizan-Shiyan Technical Research Centre to the ground.

Last week, Reuters reported that two satellite photos from August 2003 and March 2004 showed Iran had been demolishing buildings and carting away topsoil from Lavizan, which the United States said was proof Iran is trying to hide nuclear activities from the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran rejects U.S. charges that it is pursuing nuclear weapons, insisting its ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity. Tehran said last week that no nuclear activities had taken place at Lavizan.

However, U.S. officials pointed to the presence of a radiation detector -- which a diplomat and a nuclear expert told Reuters a U.S. firm had made and sold to Iran -- as proof that nuclear activities were underway at the site.

Comparing the images from May 10 and March 22, experts said it was clear that in less than two months Iran has nearly completed the task of erasing the research centre from the face of the earth.

"What I see is the removal of roads and curbs and some vegetation," Corey Hinderstein, deputy director of ISIS, told Reuters.

"These measures could make it more difficult for the IAEA to detect particles of significant (nuclear) material at the site if they were there before these measures were taken."

Last year the IAEA found particles of enriched uranium at several sites in Iran, raising fears that Tehran had been enriching uranium for use in nuclear weapons.

IRAN SANITISING SITES?

Last year, Iran carried out significant reconstruction work at the Kalaye Electric Company before granting IAEA inspectors permission to take environmental samples there. When the inspectors were finally given access after several months delay, they found traces of highly-enriched uranium.

The United States accused Iran of trying to sanitise the site prior to the arrival of U.N. inspectors. Last week, Washington said Iran was doing the same at Lavizan.

Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for nuclear power plants or, when very highly enriched, in weapons.

The IAEA has never been able to clearly identify the origin of the uranium traces. Iran says all the traces are from contaminated components for centrifuges, machines used to purify uranium, purchased on the black market.

Iran has told the IAEA the parts came from Pakistan, but Islamabad has not allowed the IAEA to take samples inside Pakistan to verify Iran's story.

The IAEA has been investigating Iran since August 2002, when an exiled Iranian opposition group reported that Tehran was hiding a massive uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and other sites from U.N. inspectors.