Iran plans to build more nuclear power plants

TEHRAN, Dec. 26 (MNA) – Energy Minister Majid Namju has said that Iran plans to build more nuclear power plants.

“The administration specially supports investment in the expansion of nuclear power plants,” Namju said on Sunday.

He also announced that Bushehr power plant will start feeding the national power grid within a few months, adding that the administration has several plans for construction of new nuclear power plants.

On December 1, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) announced that the last phase of loading fuel into the core of the Bushehr nuclear power plant has been completed. AEOI Director Ali Akbar Salehi, who has also taken over as acting foreign minister, expressed hope that the plant would be connected to the national power grid by February 19, 2011.

When Bushehr nuclear power plant is first connected to the national grid, the reactor will be producing 400 megawatts of electricity and within three months it will reach 100 percent of its capacity and produce 1000 megawatts of electricity which accounts for one-fortieth of the electricity output of the country.

According to the Fourth Development Plan (2005-2010), Iran’s nuclear power plants should eventually generate up to 20,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually.

Iran says it should reach a point to be able to produce 250 to 300 tons of nuclear fuel annually to meet the demand of the nuclear power plants, so Iran needs to manufacture and install 50,0000 new high-performance centrifuges.