ABSTRACT
Although Iran’s nuclear programme can be traced back to the 1950s, and a USsupplied research reactor went online at the Teheran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC) at the end of the 1960s, it was only after the oil crisis in 1973 that the Shah began to invest heavily in nuclear energy. In the following years, Iran concluded contracts with the United States (1974), Germany (1976) and France (1977) for the construction of power reactors and supply of fuel for them. It bought itself into the Eurodif gaseous diffusion enrichment plant in France and the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia, acquired yellowcake from South Africa and sent technicians abroad for training in nuclear sciences. The scientists at TNRC were given wide discretion regarding the nature and orientation of the nuclear research to be conducted. Spurred by the influx of oil revenues, the stated goal was to generate 23,000MWe from nuclear power stations.
