Iran says it has removed core of reactor, key to nuke deal
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TEHRAN - Nuclear technicians have finished removing the core of the Iran's only nuclear heavy water reactor as part of Tehran's obligations under its nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian state television reported Thursday.
The removal of the core of the nearly completed Arak reactor is a key step before crippling international sanctions on Iran are lifted. The work must still be verified by outside experts.
Under the deal reached last summer, the heavy-water reactor is to be re-engineered so that it produces only minute amounts of plutonium, like enriched uranium a potential pathway to nuclear arms. That involves exchanging the core and other major modifications.
