Iran Revives Reactor Program
July 30, 2019
Iran plans to restart activities at its heavy-water nuclear reactor, according to the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency. This type of reactor can produce weapons-grade plutonium, something that was restricted under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal that the United States walked away from in May 2018. Against this backdrop, a past Issues article examining Iran’s nuclear program still resonates. “No simple solution exists for the Iranian nuclear problem,” the author, a nonproliferation specialist, wrote, “but a series of coordinated steps offers the best chance of rolling back the country’s program.”