Nuclear Sites
Lavisan-Shian (Lavizan-Shian)
A number of institutions relevant to Iran’s nuclear R&D program have been based at Lavisan between 1989 and 2004. According to IAEA reports, the Physics Research Center was based there between 1989 and 1998 (at which time Iran states it became involved in bio-defense and “radioprotection” activities. In 2002 the Applied Physics Institute was located at the site.
Lavisan-Shian (Lavizan-Shian)
ISIS was first made aware of Lavisan-Shian in June 2004 by ABC News, which had learned of allegations that the site was involved in undeclared nuclear activity, and that authorities had razed part of the site possibly in an effort to conceal activities from IAEA inspectors.
ISIS obtained imagery of the site, located in Tehran, from August 2003 that showed large buildings inside a secure perimeter. In imagery taken on March 2004, the buildings have been removed and the earth scraped. Further clearing can be seen in imagery from May 2004. The site’s dismantlement raised concerns because it is the type of measure Iran might take if it were trying to defeat the IAEA’s environmental sampling capabilities.
The IAEA describes in its November 2004 report the history of the Lavisan site, in particular the role of the Physics Research Center in procuring nuclear-related equipment, some of which could have been used in an undeclared centrifuge effort.
Following the publication of ISIS’s report, the IAEA asked and received permission to visit the site. Iran told the IAEA that the site had no nuclear material requiring a declaration, and that no fuel cycle activities were conducted there.
Iran explained to the IAEA that the site was razed following a dispute between the municipality of Tehran and Ministry of Defense and the return of the land to the city for recreational use. Between 1989 and 2004, according to Iran, several military-related institutions were based at the facility. The Physics Research Center was established at Lavisan in 1989, to oversee “preparedness to combat and neutralization of casualties due to nuclear attacks and accidents and also support and provide scientific advice and services to the Ministry of Defence.” In a letter to the IAEA in August 2004, Iran stated that “no nuclear material declarable in accordance with the Agency’s safeguards was present” and reiterated its earlier statement that “no nuclear material and nuclear activities related to fuel cycle were carried out at Lavisan-Shian.”
The November 2004 IAEA report notes that after 1998 the facility became the Biological Study Center with a focus on “biological R&D and radioprotection” activities. In 2002, the Institute for Applied Physics (IAP) was also located at that site.
IAEA environmental samples taken at Lavisan showed no evidence of nuclear material, although the IAEA pointed out in the November 2004 safeguards report that the “detection of nuclear material in soil samples would be very difficult in light of the razing of the site.”
The role of the PHRC in Iran’s nuclear procurement remains an outstanding issue between the IAEA and Iran that is subject to continued discussions.
In its report of February 2008, the IAEA notes that it has asked Iran to clarify “a number of pro actions by the ERI, PHRC and IAP” which could relate to the military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear program, including “training courses on neutron calculations, the effect of shock waves on metal, enrichment/isotope separation and ballistic missiles. Efforts to procure spark gaps, shock wave software, neutron sources, special steel parts and radiation measurement equipment, including borehole gamma spectrometers.”
site imagery
|
Date: Aug 22, 2004
Photo Type: Satellite 
|
Date: May 10, 2004
Photo Type: Satellite 
|
Date: Aug 11, 2003
Photo Type: Satellite 
|