brussels<u+2014>iran will ship about 11 metric tons of heavy water out of the country in the next couple of days, according to people familiar with the plans, defusing<u+00a0>a conflict with the u.s. and others over the iranian nuclear deal. earlier this week, the head of the international atomic energy agency, yukiya amano, expressed concerns that iran had for the second time exceeded a 130-metric-ton threshold for its heavy-water stockpile. a metric ton is equivalent to 1.1 short tons. he warned that a repetition of this breach could undermine confidence in the full implementation of the july 2015 agreement designed to stop iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. heavy water is used to cool uranium in a process that can be used to form plutonium. since plutonium can be used in a nuclear weapon, the nuclear deal set a limit on how much heavy water iran could store. according to people familiar with the plans, iran has already sent the 11 metric tons of<u+00a0>heavy water to one of its ports, where it is under the seal of the iaea, the united nations atomic agency that is overseeing implementation of the nuclear<u+00a0>deal. after the material is shipped, likely to oman<u+00a0>for sale into the international market, iran<u+2019>s heavy-water stockpile will fall to about 120 metric tons. that should be enough to keep iran away from the 130-metric-ton threshold for some months, one of the officials said. iran is estimated to be capable of<u+00a0>producing<u+00a0>between 20 and 25 metric tons of heavy water a year. iran and the u.s. clashed openly at this week<u+2019>s meeting of the iaea board of governors over<u+00a0>iranian implementation of the deal. the u.s. representative at the iaea<u+00a0>said iran must ship the material out of iran quickly. <u+201c>iran must strictly adhere to all commitments,<u+201d> u.s. iaea ambassador laura holgate said at the meeting, adding that tehran should keep its stockpile <u+201c>well beneath<u+201d> 130 metric tons. <u+201c>we urge iran to complete without delay its plan to resolve this issue,<u+201d> she said. iran<u+2019>s representative at the agency told reporters on thursday that<u+00a0>iran would ship out more than 5 metric tons of material. however, he<u+00a0>said iran believed it was complying with its obligations under the nuclear deal and that 130 metric tons was a soft target, not a hard limit. the clash over heavy water came in the days following the election of donald trump, who during the presidential campaign<u+00a0>threatened to tear up the nuclear deal. people involved in overseeing the iranian nuclear deal say that at the very least, they believe<u+00a0>mr. trump is likely to crack down on any breach<u+00a0>of the terms of the nuclear deal by iran. corrections & amplifications: heavy water is used to cool uranium in a process that can be used to form plutonium, which can be used in a nuclear weapon. an earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that <u+201c>weapons-grade plutonium<u+201d> could be separated from heavy water. (nov. 19, 2016) write to laurence norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com
iran to ship heavy water out of country to ease nuclear conflict  - wsj
laurence norman