Iran's ISNA news agency reported yesterday that the country's president said he wanted to install 60,000 centrifuges as part of Iran's nuclear programme.

Centrifuges are used to make fuel for nuclear power stations but can produce material for atomic warheads, which is what the West believes is Iran's goal despite Teheran's denials.

"We intend to install 60,000 centrifuges and, God willing, Iran will be able to provide for its needs in nuclear fuel by next year," Ahmadinejad was quoted by ISNA as saying in a corrected report.

It earlier quoted him saying Iran wanted to install 100,000 machines. Ahmadinejad had also said last week that Iran wanted to install 60,000 centrifuges.

Iran plans to start up its first nuclear power station, which has faced several delays, in 2007. The next Iranian year starts in March.

Iran so far runs two chains of 164 centrifuges, known as cascades. On their own these cascades would take years to produce enough material for a bomb.

Teheran says the next step is to install 3,000 centrifuges, a number which could produce enough material for at least one warhead in a year provided they were spinning without interruption.

The United Nations has demanded Iran halt enrichment work.

Western diplomats question why Iran is pushing ahead with its enrichment plans when it does not yet have a working atomic power plant. They say it would be cheaper for the world's fourth largest oil exporter to buy atomic fuel on the world market.

Iran says it wants to ensure a secure supply of its own fuel and that the Bushehr atomic station, being built by Russia and due for completion next year, is only the first of several plants aimed at meeting burgeoning demand for electricity.

IAEA discuss Iran's request for help

The UN nuclear watchdog began a politically charged meeting yesterday that is likely to put on ice Iran's request for help with a heavy-water plant, diplomats said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s 35-nation governing board urged Iran in February to "reconsider" the Arak reactor project. Teheran has vowed to complete it and applied for IAEA technical expertise to ensure the plant meets safety standards.

Although IAEA approval of such requests is usually routine, Western board members say the Arak case must be rejected given Iran's record of evading IAEA non-proliferation inspections and its defiance of UN demands to stop enriching uranium.

But developing nations on the Vienna-based body oppose outright rejection. They say this would impose a politicized precedent for withholding technical aid to peaceful atomic energy programmes they are pursuing or may consider.

Diplomats said the most likely outcome was a compromise in which the board would defer a decision pending guidance from the UN Security Council, where world powers are deliberating sanctions on Iran but are split over how tough they should be.

"Deferral is the most likely option as it would help avoid alienating developing nations on the board and buy time to see what the Security Council will do to resolve this battle elsewhere," a senior IAEA diplomat said yesterday.

Diplomats said a deal was being considered under which the board would shelve the Arak item while approving seven other aid requests submitted by Iran seen as less problematic.

They include developing radiation therapy for medical ends, help in commissioning a Russian-built nuclear reactor not deemed a proliferation risk, and regulatory aspects of nuclear energy.

The Arak case, on which a board ruling was expected later in a week-long meeting, has symbolized the nuclear crisis.

Source: China Daily