TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran has identified over a dozen potential sites for construction of new nuclear power plants, a senior nuclear official said, adding that most of the sites are located in the Southern parts of the country.
“According to the feasibility studies, there are 16 selected sties, 10 located on the coastal rim of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman (in Southern Iran), which enjoy higher priorities (compared to other potential locations) for the construction nuclear power plants,” Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Ahmadiyan said in Tehran on Sunday.
He pointed to a parliament approval which is binding for the AEOI to prepare the grounds for the construction of nuclear power plants to generate up to 20,000 megawatts of electricity, and said, “Following the approval of this law, the AEOI has been planning to build more power plants.”
Ahmadiyan underlined that Iran was divided into six regions and each region has been commissioned to a consulting engineering company to conduct feasibility studies in a bid to choose suitable locations for the construction of nuclear power plants, and said the Southern parts of Iran have been prioritized.
Iranian officials say the Persian Gulf country needs enough atomic reactors to generate a total of 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.
Ahmadiyan announced in mid-September 2012 that Iran has identified 34 potential sites for building additional nuclear power plants.
In September 2013, Iran officially took over from Russia the 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Bushehr for two years.
By Fars News Agency
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