TEHRAN – The Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran has been shut down for an overhaul operation after generating electricity for 298 days, according to the head manager of the power plant.

Hossein Ghaffari, talking to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting on Sunday, said the power plant is undergoing periodic maintenance and fuel reloading, and will be reconnected to the national grid in a couple of weeks.

He specified that the plant will resume supplying electricity to the national grid in late April or early May.

The official noted that a third of the plant’s fuel packs will be replaced during the outage period and the periodic repair and maintenance operations and safety measures will be carried out.

Ghaffari had announced in January that the Bushehr nuclear plant had supplied around 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to the national grid over the previous eight months.

He said the plant generated a record amount of 7.4 billion kWh of electricity in the previous Iranian year (March 2017-March 2018), more than 90 percent of which was supplied to the national grid.

In September 2013, Iran took temporary control of the Russian made nuclear power plant.

Russia has agreed to provide the power plant’s fuel for 10 years, with the supply deal committing Tehran to returning the spent fuel.

The Bushehr plant became officially operational and was connected to national grid in September 2011.

SP/PA