Scott Roecker, vice president of the Nuclear Materials Security Program at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, outlined a plan under which the United States would deploy mobile laboratories to Iran to remove its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and transport the material to a U.S. national laboratory. The proposal is contingent on a negotiated agreement with the Iranian government.

The U.S. estimates Iran possesses nearly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium enriched close to weapons grade. Iran's estimated 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium is likely mostly stored in Isfahan.

Under the plan described by Roecker, who previously served in the National Nuclear Security Administration, the U.S. government would draw on mobile capabilities that can be deployed to Iran to set up a lab and process highly enriched uranium within 30 days. The material would then be flown to the United States for safekeeping in a national laboratory.

The plan would ideally include down-blending the highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium to prevent its use in a nuclear weapon. A mission to remove the material from Iran would take weeks, not days, if agreement is reached and operations proceed smoothly, Roecker said.

The highly enriched uranium material in Iran is reported to be in a gas form inside cylinders similar to scuba tanks. It is generally safer to ship nuclear material in oxide or powder form because these are more stable. Nuclear material is packaged into approved casks for air transport. Converting gaseous uranium to a more stable form for shipment would be among the processing steps conducted in a deployed mobile laboratory.

The United States has removed all highly enriched uranium from more than 30 countries worldwide. In every such instance, the U.S. had full agreement with the government involved. Roecker's proposal applies that same requirement to any potential operation in Iran.