Iran said on Tuesday operations had begun at two uranium mines and a milling plant and that Western opposition would not slow its nuclear work, days after talks with world powers made no breakthrough, reported Reuters. Iran opened the Saghand 1 and 2 mines in the central province of Yazd and the Shahid Rezaeinejad yellowcake plant in the town of Ardakan in the same region to mark the country's National Nuclear Technology Day, state news agency IRNA said. Yellowcake can be further processed into enriched uranium to make fuel for nuclear power plants, Iran's stated aim, or to pro

Iran, under global sanctions for its controversial nuclear programme, on Tuesday launched a new uranium production facility and began operations in two extraction mines, state television said. The mines at Saghand city, in central Iran, operate 350 metres (yards) underground and are within 120 kilometres (75 miles) of the new yellowcake production facility in the city of Ardakan, in Yazd province, the television said. The report gave few details of the Ardakan facility but said it had an estimated 60 tonnes output of yellowcake, which is an impure state of uranium oxide later f

Iran, under international sanctions for its nuclear enrichment programme, on Tuesday launched a new uranium production facility and began operations in two uranium extraction mines, state media said. The two mines in the city of Saghand in central Iran operate 350 metres (1,150 feet) underground, and are within 120 kilometres (75 miles) of the yellowcake production facility in the city of Ardakan, in Yazd province, state television said. Yellowcake is the impure state of uranium oxide later used in enrichment facilities. mod/bpz/bpz

The Roessing uranium mine in Namibia, a unit of British mining giant Rio Tinto, said Friday it plans to cut 17 percent of its workforce due to slowing demand for nuclear fuel. The world's third largest producer of uranium oxide, Roessing said some 276 of 1,592 permanent jobs are to be cut. As with many other uranium producers, Roessing is buckling under low metal prices and reduced demand, the company’s managing director Chris Salisbury told reporters.