Nuclear Fuel Processing Plants

The squat, tan buildings with barred windows can be reached only by driving well outside the city to a flat stretch of desert on the edge of the hills. The site is surrounded by an array of antiaircraft artillery emplacements, each with one or two soldiers at the ready, and a large metal fence topped with barbed wire. Once inside the reception hall, visitors are greeted by a huge poster that reads, "Nuclear Energy Is Our Obvious Right."

Iran announced Saturday it had reached another milestone in its nuclear program, appearing eager to create an air of inevitability to its acquisition of atomic technology in the face of a U.N. deadline this week to temporarily halt its uranium enrichment operations. In choosing to inaugurate a heavy-water production plant just days before the threat of censure from world powers, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad signaled that the Islamic Republic would not be cowed.