Iran has 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges – nuclear chief

Iran has 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges – nuclear chief

Iran has 18,000 uranium-enrichment centrifuges, the country's outgoing nuclear chief said on Saturday, according to ISNA news agency. According to Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani, the Islamic republic has 17,000 older "first-generation" IR-1 centrifuges, of which 10,000 are operating and 7,000 are ready to start operations. One thousand of the country's centrifuges are an advanced new model, he added. The UN previously estimated Iran to have 16,600 IR-1 machines in its nuclear research facilities.