According to the U.S. State Department, Iran has no known heavy water reactor (aside from a small IAEA-safeguarded �zero-power� research reactor located at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Center) and no need for an indigenous source of heavy water. Iran�s only nuclear power reactor expected to become operational within the next decade is the light-water reactor under construction with Russian help at Bushehr. This raises serious questions about Iran�s intentions in constructing an industrial-scale heavy water production plant at Arak. Heavy-water moderated reactors are better suited for plutonium production than are light water reactors. Thus, the State Department said in May 2003 that it believes Iran�s true intent is to develop the capability to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons, using both the plutonium route (supported ultimately by a heavy-water research reactor) and the highly enriched uranium route (supported by a gas centrifuge enrichment plant).
