29 Mar 2024
Wednesday 21 November 2012 - 17:00
Story Code : 11406

Iran denies cessation of operation in Bushehr nuclear power plant: nuclear chief

Iran denies cessation of operation in Bushehr nuclear power plant: nuclear chief
By Xinhua

TEHRAN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Iran denied on Wednesday reports that the Islamic republic has temporarily halted the operation of Bushehr nuclear power plant, semi-official Fars news agency reported.

On Nov. 16, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a report that Iran unloaded fuel from the reactor core of Bushehr power plant in October and transferred it to a spent fuel pond.

"Don't believe any of these (reports)," Fereidoon Abbasi, head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Wednesday. " The work (concerning the plant) is advancing and everything is all right," he stressed.

On Saturday, Iran's permanent representative to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, said the unload of the fuel from the core of the plant was related to the transfer of responsibility of the operation of the plant from the Russians to the Iranian experts.

In September, Igor Mezenin, the operation chief of the Bushehr nuclear plant's Russian contractor, said Iran would get full control of 1,000 MW Bushehr nuke plant at the end of 2012 from the Russian contractor.

The reactor of the plant's unit reached its full capacity on Aug. 31.

Construction of the Bushehr plant began in 1975 by several German companies. However, work halted when the United States imposed an embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran after the 1979 revolution.

Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998. The remaining construction was postponed several times due to mounting technical and financial challenges and pressure from Washington.

 

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