Iran to Build More N. Reactors

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran plans to build two new 1000-megawatt units at the Bushehr nuclear power complex, a senior Iranian official said.

Deputy Director of the Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Ahmad Fayyazbakhsh said that instead of completing the second unit at the Bushehr plant, Iranian authorities have decided to build two new reactors.

“IAEO officials plan to build two new units with a capability of 1,000 MW each, rather than completing the second unit of the Bushehr nuclear reactor,” Fayyazbakhsh said on Tuesday.

Work on the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is in its final stage. IAEO spokesman Mohsen Delaviz said in November that the plant is scheduled to become fully operational in 2009.

“The commissioning stages of the Bushehr nuclear plant have begun, and we are hopeful that the plant will be launched in 2009, as per the agreement we have with the Russian party,” said Delaviz.

Iran and Russia signed an agreement on nuclear cooperation in 1992, and Atomstroiexport signed a contract in January 1995 to finish building Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr after western countries gave up work on the plant after the onset of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 without making any compensation or retribution.

The Russian company also trains Iranian specialists and has so far delivered eight fuel shipments to the reactor.

Iran insists that it should continue enriching uranium because it needs to provide fuel to a 300-megawatt light-water reactor it is building in the southwestern town of Darkhoveyn as well as its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr.

Iran currently suffers from an electricity shortage that has forced the country into adopting a rationing program by scheduling power outages – of up to two hours a day – across both urban and rural areas.

Iran plans to construct additional nuclear power plants to provide for the electricity needs of its growing population.