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Iran wants Russians to build more nuclear plants

December 06-2013

Iran is in “serious” talks with Russia to build more nuclear power plants, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said Sunday.

“Based on the 1992 agreement with Russia, we are in talks with them to construct power plants with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts in Iran with their help in due course,” Ali-Akbar Salehi told the state news agency.

That could mean four more plants of the size of the 1,000-megawatt Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant that is Iran’s sole operating nuclear power plant.  There has been talk, however, of building plants with a higher capacity.

Salehi said the Islamic Republic was also negotiating with a number of other countries. He did not name the countries, and it is considered highly unlikely that any other country able to build such plants would be willing to talk to Iran.  Even in the 1990s, only Russia and China were willing to do nuclear business with Iran and China soon dropped out.

“The new nuclear plants will be built at the Bushehr site because it will cost millions of [additional] dollars if we construct them at another site,” Salehi said.

He said each 1,000-megawatt plant would save the country 8 million barrels of oil or two days worth of production at the rate before sanctions hit Iran hard last year.

He added that the AEOI has sent a letter to President Rohani asking him to include funds in the budget for the year starting at Now Ruz for a second power plant, construction of which Salehi hopes will begin next year.

The first unit of the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant was handed over to Iranian operators September 23.  The Russians are still at the plant and can intervene whenever they feel it is needed.  Salehi has said the Bushehr plant must operate for two years or 7,000 hours under the Russian tutelage. “After these two years, the plant will be fully under our control,” he said.

A decade ago, the Majlis passed legislation authorizing 20,000 megawatts of capacity from nuclear reactors.  It passed that legislation shortly after a Russian nuclear expert said Iran could not economically justify having uranium enrichment and fuel production for its very limited power plans.

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