Iran plans to increase its nuclear materials production capacity to more than eight times its current size, Xinhua news agency reported.

Iran plans to expand the 6,000 centrifuges to a total of 50,000, the report stated, quoting Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, who said the United States must accept living with “a nuclear Iran.”

The report came as the European Missile Defense system that the United States plans as a defense against Iranian missiles has come under scrutiny in Congress. (Please see full stories in this issue.)

He spoke in a joint news conference with a Russian official.

The long-delayed 1,000-megawatt Bushehr nuclear power plant may come on line this year.