TEHRAN, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced late on Monday that the 20-percent enriched uranium has started to be available at its Fordow facility.

The 20-percent enrichment started at the Fordow facility and has reached the stability level, said Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of AEOI, on state TV.

The uranium is being obtained in two enrichment cascades, he added.

While the 20-percent enrichment used to take 24 hours, new methods adopted by Iranian technicians enable the process to be completed in 12 hours, Kamalvandi noted.

Iran already developed the ability to produce 20-percent enriched uranium after it was denied the supply of uranium fuel in 2010, the spokesman said.

The 20-percent uranium enrichment process was launched on Monday as part of Iran's Strategic Action Plan to Counter Sanctions which was approved by the parliament in December 2020, according to Kamalvandi.