TEHRAN, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran has developed a key technology to separate uranium from its ore, marking a significant step closer to the country's ambition to construct and run nuclear fuel cycle independently, the state television reported on Sunday.

   The report quoted a concerned technician as saying that the new technological breakthrough would allow the Islamic Republic to separate uranium from the ore with the so-called "mixer-settler."

   "With the technology, we can use the mixer-settler to produce zirconium and uranium used for the fuel cycle more effectively, and we could not afford to buy the know-how before," the technician said.

   "It also minimizes the use of solvent in the process and has a recycling mechanism," he added.

   In a mixer settler, two types of liquids of different density are mixed to make certain chemical compounds pass from one liquid into another, and the two liquids then settle due to their different gravities, which will make it easier to separate the compounds.

   Uranium is the material used for producing concentrated uranium oxide, nicknamed yellowcake. Yellowcake can be converted into Uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the material for uranium enrichment.

   Enriched uranium can be used for both generating electricity and building nuclear weapons.

   The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the disguise of civil use, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

   Iran is under pressure of the European Union, which has recently allowed Iran to conduct uranium enrichment work in Russia, a proposal by Moscow to defuse the Iranian nuclear crisis.

   Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said on Thursday that such a proposal was considerable. Enditem