Scientific details are part of the challenge in finalizing Iran nuclear deal

Nature : The nuclear “deal” agreed to by Iran and six nations led by the US is less a deal and more a framework for a potential deal that has a deadline of 30 June. Many of the key points in the framework hinge on science. Perhaps the easiest is the goal of reducing Iran’s ability to switch from civilian nuclear production to military production. Known as the “break-out” process, it depends on the nation’s quantity of low-enriched uranium reserves and the number of centrifuges it possesses capable of further enrichment. The framework reduces both and also calls for a change in the fuel used at one of Iran’s reactors that currently produces plutonium waste. The framework also calls for increased inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities, supplemented by remote sensing using satellites and other technologies. The final deal may establish long-term safeguards and inspections similar to those in place for Brazil and Japan. One of the most challenging issues for the deal may be determining what nuclear weapon development Iran has done in the past and may still be working on. Such determinations probably can’t be made unless highly trained nuclear weapons engineering experts are allowed access to Iran’s nuclear research facilities.