'Bushehr plant reactor functioning well'

The Bushehr nuclear power plant, located in southern Iran

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/179820.html

A spokesperson for the Atomstroyexport company, the Russian contractor of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, says the activities at the plant is progressing well and on schedule.

Olga Tysleva told IRNA on Friday that the fuel loading of the reactor at the Bushehr nuclear plant is completed and the reactor is well functioning at the minimum controllable level of power.

She went on to say that the reactor has achieved a chain distribution, which is an automatic system, adding that this is one of the significant stages of the physical launch of the reactor.

Tysleva further pointed out that the plant will soon be put into service to generate electricity but did not provide an exact date for it.

She explained that the whole process of the construction of the plant has been carried out within the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Organization.

She said that security issues come first in the construction of a nuclear plant, so the preliminary stages of the physical launch of the Bushehr plant will be fully supervised.

Atomstroyexport company said in a statement this week that the reactor of the plant has gone into operation, adding that the tests of control and protection systems would now be conducted.

In October 2010, Iran started injecting fuel into the core of the reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the initial phase of its launch. However, engineers began removing the fuel rods in late February for safety reasons.

The unloading of the fuel delayed the plant's joining the national grid, initially scheduled for the beginning of 2011.