Iran 'made radioactive element'
From Christiane Amanpour
CNN Chief International Correspondent
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Commercial satellite photo of a nuclear facility near Natanz, Iran.
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Inspectors find more sophisticated uranium centrifuge parts in Iran than the type Tehran has admitted to having.
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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Iran produced and experimented with polonium, a radioactive element that can be used in the chain reaction that produces a nuclear explosion, diplomats who have seen a status report on Iran's nuclear activity told CNN.
The 14-page report was requested by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) governors to assess Iran when the board next convenes March 8.
Polonium also can be used for making nuclear batteries to power remote generators and lighthouses, which the former Soviet Union frequently did.
Iran told the IAEA that was its use for polonium, though the diplomats say they believe that to be unlikely.
Western diplomats told CNN the polonium revelations fuel suspicions and give the impression of a pattern of concealment.
While Iran is allowing inspectors unfettered access, those same inspectors have discovered undisclosed elements that the Iranians only admit after being confronted with the evidence, diplomats said.
The diplomats said Iran's actions fall short of its obligation for a full and complete declaration on all nuclear activity, which it made last November.
The IAEA report also says Iran failed to declare designs for a sophisticated P2 advanced centrifuge that can be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. That alleged failure was revealed earlier this month.
According to a Western diplomat familiar with the IAEA report, Europeans and Iranians have struck a deal to fully suspend all uranium enrichment as required under the additional protocol signed last fall.
Although Iran has already suspended active enrichment, it has now also agreed to stop the import, assembling and production of enrichment equipment, the diplomat said.
Western diplomats told CNN the IAEA has reached no formal conclusion about the existence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program, saying the IAEA is "nowhere close to saying Iran has a nuclear weapon."
But the diplomats said the pattern of non-disclosure indicates Iran has not told the whole story of its nuclear program.
Although the IAEA report says there is no evidence of Iran having a full nuclear weapons program, the latest revelations point to Iran experimenting and testing in areas that could be directly related to a nuclear weapons program.
