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| Fuel for Tehran reactor to be prepared by mid March |
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TEHRAN– Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Director Fereydoun Abbasi has said the domestically produced fuel for the Tehran research reactor will be prepared by the end of the Iranian calendar year (March 21). “At the moment, the reactor is not faced with any major problem in regard to the supply of fuel, but domestically produced fuel will be prepared by the end of year,” Abbasi told reporters on Wednesday. “We are currently trying to keep the Tehran reactor running on the remaining supply of fuel, but we will make every effort to produce initial batches of the required fuel (plates) for the reactor,” he added. In June, Abbasi said that it was more than likely that the production of nuclear fuel plates for the Tehran research reactor would begin by September. Iran has already announced that it has installed the machinery needed for producing nuclear fuel plates to power the Tehran reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment. The nuclear plant for converting enriched nuclear fuel into fuel rods was inaugurated in Isfahan in early spring 2009. Iranian officials say that the technology for producing nuclear fuel plates does not differ greatly from the technology for producing nuclear fuel rods. Bushehr power plant to be officially inaugurated in Nov. On the launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, Abbasi said that the power plant will probably be connected to the national grid by the end of the holy month of Ramadan (August 31) for a trial run. He added that hopefully the official inauguration ceremony of the power plant will be held in November with the participation of high-ranking Iranian and Russian officials. In May 2011, Iranian engineers, in cooperation with Russian experts, completed the last phase of reloading fuel into the core of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, and it was announced that the power plant would be connected to the national grid by July 9. The power plant was first launched in August 2010 after engineers loaded 163 fuel rods into the reactor under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Organization. However, in February 2011, Iran unloaded the fuel from the reactor due to a request by Russia based on concerns over safety. The plant, which is located near the port of Bushehr on the coast of the Persian Gulf, will produce 1000 megawatts of electricity once it becomes fully operational.
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| Last Updated on 17 August 2011 15:34 |