Logo

American Security Council Foundation

Back to main site

Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

ASCF News

Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Iran Claims Production of Enriched Uranium Is Exceeding Expectations

Monday, February 1, 2021

Categories: ASCF News Emerging Threats National Preparedness

Comments: 0

Iranian state media reported Thursday that production of 20 percent enriched uranium — the last level before leaping to weapons-grade material — has far exceeded expectations.

Iranian officials predicted they would be able to produce 120 kilograms of enriched uranium per year, but the current pace of production is about 70 percent above that goal.

Iranian parliamentary speaker Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf announced the production of more than 17 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium in less than one month on state television, praising the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) for its efforts.

Behrooz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for AEOI, confirmed Thursday that Iran has now accumulated approximately 17 kilograms of 20 percent enriched uranium.

“It’s not only the enrichment. We have achieved a lot in the field of radiopharmaceuticals, yellowcake production, and oxygen,” he added, insisting that all of the uranium will be used for peaceful purposes.

Iran’s decision to begin enriching uranium to 20 percent at the beginning of January was seen as the worst of an increasingly severe series of Iranian violations of the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). 

The 2015 nuclear agreement prohibited Iran from enriching uranium at its secret Fordow nuclear facility for 15 years, but centrifuges at Fordow are currently humming away, upgrading much less dangerous 4.1 percent uranium to the 20 percent level. From there, it is considered a relatively simple process to boost 20 percent enriched uranium to the 90 percent level required by nuclear bombs.

Iran has threatened to continue enriching uranium unless the United States removes all of the sanctions imposed after President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018. Iran has also threatened to ban inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, beginning next month.

“Our measures are fully reversible upon FULL compliance by ALL,” as Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif put it on Twitter.

“If they issue an order, Iran too will issue an order, not more. If they return to their commitments, we will also return to our commitments,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on the day of U.S. President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

“The window is closing. If the new administration does not meet its obligations and remove sanctions in short order, it will destroy the possibility for engagement within the nuclear agreement,” Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Majid Takht-Ravanchi threatened this week. 

The Biden administration has indicated it will not consider rejoining the JCPOA unless Iran “comes back into full compliance with its obligations,” as Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Photo: MOHD RASFAN/AFP/Getty Images

Source: https://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2021/01/29/iran-claims-production-enriched-uranium-is-exceeding-expectations/

Comments RSS feed for comments on this page

There are no comments yet. Be the first to add a comment by using the form below.