Iranian President Inaugurates Reactor

Ali Akbar Dareini, Yahoo News:

A heavy-water nuclear reactor in this central Iranian town has entered another phase of production despite U.N. demands that Tehran shut it down, a top official announced Saturday.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad inaugurated the heavy-water production, which Tehran says will be used for peaceful purposes. The United States and European allies fear it also could produce plutonium for a nuclear bomb.

The reactor's top official, Manouchehr Madadi, said the facility now has the ability to produce up to 16 tons of heavy water a year, double the amount it previously produced.

Iran has been building the heavy-water reactor for two years, and it is not scheduled for completion until 2009.