Iran seeks medical-grade uranium

VIENNA, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Meetings were under way Monday in Vienna to allow Iran to use enriched uranium for the treatment of cancer patients, authorities said.

If approved, low-enriched uranium produced in Iran -- not weapons-grade uranium -- would be sent to Russia and then France for further enrichment before being returned to Iran for medical research, said Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief.

Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium would be significantly reduced under the proposed program, a source close to the negotiations told CNN.

Western powers have questioned whether Iran intends to use some of that that stockpile to develop nuclear weapons while Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

The meetings in Vienna come as U.N. nuclear inspectors prepare to visit Iran's recently disclosed nuclear power plant near the city of Qom

Sunday. Following the inspection, Iranian officials are to meet with the U.N. Security Council to further discuss Tehran's overall nuclear program.