The nuclear reactors can provide free electricity out of 2-5% enriched uranium, the naval propulsion (like for ... nuclear icebreakers for the Straits of Hormuz, I dunno?) needs 8-10% enriched.
It doesn't matter what they say, or what their leaders say -- there is only one use for 60%+ enriched uranium known to the science, and it's military (the atomic bomb).
The US and Russia in slightly better days were burning off their excessive amounts of stockpiled enriched uranium and plutonium in fast neutron reactors just to get rid of it as part of a mutual drawdown of stockpiles – not at all necessary but can definitely be used.
Small amounts for research reactors, medical isotope production and the like is an argument.
Those are the possible uses but it's just thinly veiled BS when a country like Iran has 60% enriched uranium for civilian power projects. The only actual reason to stockpile it like that is so you can spout nonsense about its purpose while only being a short distance away from enriching it to weapons grade.
> being a short distance away from enriching it to weapons grade
Nuclear blackmail is still military in my book.
Having almost-a-bomb like an IKEA Billy shelf still unassembled in its box in the garage is what they wanted. The threat of being able to have a bomb. There have been several instances over the decades of the west finding and blowing up their prepared materials and facilities in order to try to make the runway longer.
By the way this is also most likely where Japan is.
Japan is also a NPT signatory and they also very likely have an almost-bomb. That is in secret they very likely have the research, the designs, the industrial capacity for the final enrichment, and almost weapons grade enriched stockpiles. They don't want to have to cross the line into the territory of actually constructing a bomb or announcing it publicly, but they want the potential and for their adversaries to know that they could do it in short order without giving them enough of a provocation to actually be called out.
In other words "I'm not touching you!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgXDYiHhp5Y
This is even more true as the former Supreme Leader of Iran had issued a religious fatwa against the development of a nuclear weapon. And then the US decided to assassinate him. His successor, his son, is much more hardline. That's either some serious 5d chess, or we just have idiots for leaders and allies alike. And we both know which it is.
