TEHRAN – Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), has announced the start of the construction of a new nuclear power plant in southwest Iran. 

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Eslami said, “In the implementation of the 20-year document of the Atomic Energy Organization, the nuclear fuel cycle and the development of mining industry activities are on the agenda. Yesterday, we started the operation of the 12th mine in West Azerbaijan.”

As regards the new power plant, which is called “Karun,” the top nuclear official said, “The construction work of the Karun power plant has started and the contracts for the internal construction of the equipment have been concluded.”

He added, “This is a 300-megawatt nuclear power plant that we had to supply water and electricity for its prerequisite activities. We also had to build a 24MW CHP plant and water desalination plant, which are in progress.”

Earlier in February this year, Eslami had traveled to the location of the Karun plant and offered more details about the new plant. 

“The operation of equipping the Karun power plant construction workshop has started. We have concluded contracts for the required heavy equipment with domestic industries, and we hope to see the construction of an all-Iranian power plant in accordance with international standards in the Darokhvein region in the future,” he said at the time during a trip to Khuzestan.

He added, “Enemies tried to break our will with sanctions and did not cooperate with us regarding the construction of nuclear power plant even after many years.”

Eslami further noted in February, “The executive operation of the Karun power plant in Darokhvein started two months ago, and the aim of the Atomic Energy Organization to build a power plant in this area is to produce 2000 megawatts of electricity. In the preliminary phase, we will implement the production of 300 megawatts of electricity, and at the same time we will follow other steps so that we can make maximum use of the capacity created in the Darokhvein region.”