--- description: The Arak heavy water reactors will be redesigned in the coming months. title: Iran Agrees to Remove Nuclear Weapons Capability in Reactors image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6066fb00dde7961/698872973c163940e645ae25/iran-arak-heavy-water-plant.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Iran](/tag/iran/) ## Iran Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Iran Agrees to Remove Nuclear Weapons Capability in Reactors by [Andy Tully / Oilprice.com](/author/oilprice-com/) ## Andy Tully / Oilprice.com Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 24, 2015 5:59 PM CUT  One of the heavy water plants in Arak, Iran. One of the heavy water plants in Arak, Iran.Atta Kenare—AFP/Getty Images by [Andy Tully / Oilprice.com](/author/oilprice-com/) ## Andy Tully / Oilprice.com Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 24, 2015 5:59 PM CUT Tehran has come to terms with six world powers on redesigning the Arak heavy-water reactor in central Iran to make it incapable of producing plutonium suitable for a nuclear weapon. The foreign ministers of all seven countries involved in agreeing to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14 signed the document outlining the redesign of the Arak reactors over the past two weeks. Also signing was Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy representative. [The document was signed](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/21/us-iran-nuclear-arak-idUSKCN0TA0IK20151121 "undefined") by the various parties on three separate days – Nov. 13, 17 and 18 – and became effective the day it received the final signature. Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) announced that the process was complete on Saturday. The status of the reactor was a major stumbling block during the negotiations between Iran and the five permanent member of the United Nations Security Council – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States – as well as Germany, a group known as the P5+1. But all the parties finally agreed that work must begin to remove the core of the 40-megawatt reactor to prevent it from producing weapons-grade plutonium before the P5+1 could agree to lift the sanctions that served as an incentive for Iran to agree to limits on its nuclear program. According to the [document](http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Documents/1394/08/30/13940830000705.pdf "undefined"), “China will participate in the redesign and the construction of the modernized reactor,” and Washington “will provide technical support and review of the modernized reactor design.” Britain, France and Germany will review the work, Russia will offer “consultative service,” and Mogherini will coordinate the approval process of designs and equipment. “The primary design of Arak reactor will take one year,” Iranian state broadcaster IRIB on Saturday quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), as saying. “Then the \[P5+1\] working group has three months to approve it.” Ali Akbar Salehi, the director of the AEOI, [welcomed the ratification](http://www.tehrantimes.com/index%5FView.asp?code=251017 "undefined") of the document. “Now, the path to implement the JCPOA has been paved,” he said Thursday. Salehi, himself a nuclear physicist, said that under the July agreement, Iran will allow the U.N.’s nuclear monitor, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to inspect the capabilities of his country’s nuclear facilities to determine their suitability for making weapons, a condition known as the “possible military dimension” (PMD) of these plants. Iran said Friday that the IAEA’s report on the PMD will be issued in early December, a move that will put the JCPOA into effect. Salehi cautioned that the PMD question must be resolved by mid-December as a condition for Iran to allow the redesign of the Arak reactor. Throughout the negotiations that led to the nuclear agreement, Iran denied that its nuclear program was designed to create a nuclear weapon. Instead, the government insisted that it was designed to generate energy and to produce isotopes to treat diseases such as cancer. _This_ [_article_](http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Iran-Agrees-To-Details-On-Removing-Weapons-Capability-In-Reactors.html "undefined") _originally appeared on_ [_Oilprice.com_](http://oilprice.com "undefined") * [Besides Europe, Saudis To Capture Russian Market Share In China](http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Besides-Europe-Saudis-To-Capture-Russian-Market-Share-In-China.html "undefined") * [Undeterred By Volatile Markets, Resource Investors Ramp Up Investments](http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Undeterred-By-Volatile-Markets-Resource-Investors-Ramp-Up-Investments.html "undefined") * [Oil Finds Some Support As WTI Hits $40 Mark](http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Finds-Some-Support-As-WTI-Hits-40-Mark.html "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/"},"headline":"Iran Agrees to Remove Nuclear Weapons Capability in Reactors","datePublished":"2015-11-24T17:59:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:53:08.063Z","description":"The Arak heavy water reactors will be redesigned in the coming months","url":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/","keywords":["Iran","energy","Nuclear Weapons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6066fb00dde7961/698872973c163940e645ae25/iran-arak-heavy-water-plant.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Andy Tully / Oilprice.com"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6066fb00dde7961/698872973c163940e645ae25/iran-arak-heavy-water-plant.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"One of the heavy water plants in Arak, Iran.","caption":"One of the heavy water plants in Arak, Iran.","creditText":"Atta Kenare—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/iran/","name":"Iran"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/","name":"Iran Agrees to Remove Nuclear Weapons Capability in Reactors"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: The Red Line on Iran","description":"TIME clarifies where President Obama, Mitt Romney and Benjamin Netanyahu stand on what they consider a nuclear Iran","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/5uikVUJZ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-10-23T21:13:59.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/5uikVUJZ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/","duration":"PT2M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"TIME Explains: U.S. Energy Independence","description":"TIME senior editor Bryan Walsh explains a hot topic from the presidential race, whether the U.S. can truly be energy independent","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/XmcuBM5C/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-11-01T22:54:28.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/XmcuBM5C.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/","duration":"PT2M26S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4126022/iran-nuclear-weapon-reactor/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```