Iran 'powers up' nuclear plant

Iran's atomic body says it expects the nuclear-fuel transfer 
to be completed by September 5 [AFP]

Source: Al Jazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/201082152655599545.html

Iran has started loading fuel into its first Russian-built nuclear power plant.

After decades of delay, engineers finally began loading the Russia-supplied fuel into the Bushehr plant in southern Iran on Saturday.

The development is a major milestone in Iran's atomic programme despite UN sanctions.

The transfer took place under the scrutiny of International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] inspectors, according to a statement by Iran's atomic energy organisation.

"The operation of transferring nuclear fuel to the reactor was carried out in [the] presence of Ali Akbar Salehi, vice-president and head of Iran's atomic body, and Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's atomic body, Rosatom," it said.

Al Jazeera's Neave Barker, reporting from Moscow, said it will take "several months before the plant is up and running fully and, according to Rosatom, Russia will continue to play an active role in the running of the plant for several more years."

Fuel Pool

A first lorry-load of fuel was taken from a storage site to a fuel "pool" inside the reactor building on Saturday.

Over the next 10 days, 163 fuel rods - equal to 80 tonnes of uranium fuel - will be moved inside the building and then into the reactor core "after necessary inspections", the statement said.

The $1bn plant's 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor will pump electricity to Iranian cities.

Last week, Salehi said the fuel transfer would be complete by September 5.

Iran plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment sites inside protected mountain strongholds.

According to Iranian officials, construction on the first one will begin in March in defiance of the UN sanctions.

Nationwide celebrations were planned for Saturday's fuel loading at Bushehr.

Ali Shirzadian, the spokesman for the Iranian atomic energy organisation, said on Friday that the plant's actual commissioning would come in October or November when the electricity it generates connects to the national grid.

The launch comes despite the fact that Russia, a long-time nuclear ally, has toughened its stance on Iran's nuclear programme.

In June, Russia backed a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment, the most controversial part of its atomic programme and which the West believes is aimed at making nuclear weapons, a charge the country strongly denies.

Iran has said it is enriching uranium to power nuclear reactors so it can eventually generate electricity of around 20,000MW.

Energy Exporter

Despite being the world's second-largest exporter of crude oil and having the world's second largest gas reserves, Iran insists it needs nuclear power for when its fossil fuels eventually run out.

Salehi, the Iranian atomic-body head, said on Friday that Iran will continue enriching uranium to make fuel for the Bushehr plant as the country might not always buy it from Moscow.

"The Bushehr plant has a life span of 60 years and we plan to use it for 40 years. Suppose we buy fuel for 10 years from Russia. What are we going to do for the next 30 to 50 years?" the state news agency, IRNA, quoted him as saying.

Russia has already supplied 82 tonnes of fuel for Bushehr and plans to take back the spent material to avoid any misuse.

Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on Wednesday the Bushehr plant would keep Iran firmly fixed to the peaceful use of nuclear power.

"It is a most important anchor which keeps Iran within the regime of non-proliferation," he said.

Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert in non-proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said Bushehr is not a proliferation risk "as long as it is run to produce power for electricity generation".

"It would be a risk if Iran operated it differently, for short periods at low-burn up in order to produce weapons-usable plutonium - but in this case the IAEA would know," he said, referring to the UN atomic watchdog.

Shah-Era Project

Work on the Bushehr plant, which is not targeted under UN or other sanctions, began in the 1970s under the rule of the Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, the US-backed deposed ruler, using contractors from Siemens, the German firm.

The Bushehr project was put on hold when the shah was toppled in the 1979 Islamic revolution, and was revived a decade later under Ali Khamenei, the current supreme leader.

The Bushehr plant is not considered a proliferation risk because the terms of the deal commit the Iranians to allowing the Russians to retrieve all used reactor fuel for reprocessing.

Spent fuel contains plutonium, which can be used to make atomic weapons.

Additionally, Iran has said that IAEA experts will be able to verify that none of the fresh fuel or waste is diverted.

"The real test of trust for the opening of Bushehr is whether or not Iran will agree to send those fuel rods back and honour its contract in the coming years," our correspondent said.

In 1994, Russia agreed to complete its construction, but since then "technical problems" and disputes between Moscow and Tehran delayed its completion.

Fresh doubts over Bushehr were raised after Moscow voted for the latest UN sanctions, followed by comments made by Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, that Iran was close to attaining the potential to build a nuclear weapon.

This triggered an angry response from Iran, as Moscow's position has always been that Tehran has the right to peaceful nuclear energy.

Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's envoy to the IAEA, accused Moscow of delaying Bushehr's start-up, saying "it is hard to believe that the technical issues continue to delay the completion of the plant over the past 15 years".

Bushehr has always been seen as a potential target in the event of a military attack by the US and Israel, who have never ruled out military action against Iran's nuclear program.
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Iran's Nuclear Plant Fueling Irks Israel



Iran started loading the Bushehr nuclear power plant with the first 
fuel on August 21.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139619.html

Israel, widely assumed to be the only regime with nuclear weapons in the Middle East, has called Iran's fueling of its Bushehr nuclear power plant "totally unacceptable.”

Tel Aviv has also urged pressure on Tehran's civilian nuclear program in a Saturday statement issued by Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yossi Levy.

"The international community should increase pressure on to force Iran to abide by international decisions and cease its enrichment activities and its construction of reactors," Levy said in the statement, quoted by Reuters.

He also accused Iran of breaching the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of which the Islamic Republic is a signatory while Israel has refused to sign.

The Israeli official made the comments after the Islamic Republic celebrated the launch of its reactor in Bushehr in southern Iran on Saturday.

On Saturday, Iran started loading its first nuclear power plant with fuel in a move to provide the country with nuclear-generated electricity.

The Israeli reaction to the Bushehr plant fueling comes despite a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in June in which Arab nations denounced Israel for preventing the Middle East from becoming a nuclear-free region.

In the IAEA board session, which addressed Israel's nuclear issue for the first time since 1991, Arab states called on the regime to come clean about its nuclear capabilities and allow international investigations.

"Israel continues to defy the international community, through its continued refusal to accede to the treaty on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons," Arab countries said in a statement.
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Putin Lauds Startup of Iran's Reactor



Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (L) meets with Sergei Kiriyenko,
Russia's nuclear chief, at his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/139375.html

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been briefed on latest developments in Iran's first nuclear power plant due to be fueled with uranium on Saturday.

Sergei Kiriyenko, Russia's nuclear chief, described the startup of Iran's first major reactor in the southern port of Bushehr as a "landmark event" in his meeting with Putin on Thursday.

"I congratulate you on that," Putin reportedly told Kiriyenko.

"I report to you that we and our Iranian partners have maintained our schedule. This Saturday, August 21, we are beginning the physical launch of the station. It will be done under the eyes of IAEA inspectors," said Kiriyenko.

Iran says Moscow's fulfillment of its commitment to complete the Bushehr nuclear power plant has made Russia a favored contractor for future nuclear projects in the Islamic Republic.

"Considering Russia's expertise… in constructing the Bushehr nuclear plant, the country will be given priority for future nuclear cooperation with Iran," said Tehran's Ambassador to Russia Seyyed Mahmoudreza Sajjadi, quoted by Mehr news agency on Wednesday.

The Iranian envoy stated that the launch of the nuclear plant will open a new chapter in relations between the two countries.

Western corporations began the construction of the Bushehr nuclear facility in the 1970s in close collaboration with the former Iranian dictator Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. However, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran that overthrew the Shah, the Western firms reneged on their commitments and abandoned the project without ever compensating the Iranian government for the incomplete work.

Iran then turned to Russia to complete the project. In 1992, the two countries signed a deal to complete the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

The Bushehr plant was originally scheduled to be completed by 1999. However, the work has repeatedly been delayed for numerous reasons, including major pressures on the Russian government by the US, Israel and their European allies.