Iran has just announced it is building a fourth nuclear research reactor in the central city of Isfahan, days after announcing construction of a new nuclear power plant complex in the south of the country.
The state news agency IRNA quoted Mohammad Eslami, head of the AEOI, as saying: “Today, the concrete pouring process for the reactor foundation began at the Isfahan site.”
Currently, the Bushehr power plant is Iran's only operational nuclear power facility. Photo: ZUMA
IRNA describes the new reactor as a "research reactor" and says it will have a range of applications including testing nuclear fuels and materials, as well as producing industrial radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals. The Isfahan Nuclear Research Centre currently has three reactors.
Iran's nuclear program has been a source of concern for many Western countries, who fear it is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, Iran maintains that it has no such intention and that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes.
Iran has faced a series of US sanctions since former President Donald Trump withdrew from an international agreement brokered in 2015 aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions.
In January, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, said Iran was "limiting" its cooperation with the agency and called Iran's nuclear situation "worrying".
Mohammad Eslami, head of the AEOI, said last Thursday that a new nuclear power plant complex is under construction in Sirik, southern Iran, and it will have a combined daily production capacity of 5,000 MW.
Speaking during a visit to the Sirik region with President Ebrahim Raisi, Eslami said: “We must achieve a domestic nuclear power production capacity of 20,000 MW by 2041.”
Currently, only the United States, France, China, Russia, and South Korea are the five rare countries in the world that have installed nuclear power capacity exceeding 20,000 MW.
Iran currently has one operational nuclear power plant in Bushehr, in the southwest of the country, generating approximately 3,000 MW. According to the IRNA news agency, the plant in Sirik is expected to be operational by 2031.
Quang Anh (according to AFP, DPA, DW)
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