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Iran says nuclear plant to start operating by Aug 22
Tehran (AFP) March 10, 2009 Iran said on Tuesday that its much-delayed nuclear power plant, where testing began last month, would start operating by August 22. The 1,000-megawatt Russian-built plant in the southern port city of Bushehr will first generate around 500 megawatts by August 22, Energy Minister Parviz Fattah said, quoted by state television's website. The Russian federal nuclear company which is constructing the plant has so far declined to give a date for the start-up. "By the end of the Iranian month of Mordad (August 22), 500 megawatts of the 1,000 megawatt Bushehr nuclear plant will be transmitted to the national grid," Fattah said. "The remaining 500 megawatts will be transmitted in the second half of the (Iranian) year," which ends March 2010. On March 4, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced in parliament that the plant would begin operating by September. Russian and Iranian officials began testing the plant on February 25, as Tehran pressed on with its controversial nuclear programme despite Western fears it may be secretly trying to build an atomic bomb. Moscow supplied the fuel for the plant in 2008 but it is currently sealed by the UN watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been investigating Iran's nuclear drive for the past six years. Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Moscow's federal nuclear agency, announced when tests began that construction of the plant was complete but he did not set a date for its commissioning. The testing of the Bushehr plant raised fresh concerns in the international community over Iran's nuclear development, although Tehran insists that its atomic programme is purely peaceful. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany have said in a rare joint statement that they are ready for direct talks with Iran to resolve the long-running nuclear standoff. But on Tuesday, US intelligence chief Dennis Blair warned it will be "difficult" to convince Iran to give up its suspected quest for nuclear weapons through diplomatic means. Blair said in prepared testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee that Tehran might bow to a "credible" blend of "threats of intensified international scrutiny and pressures" as well as incentives. "It is difficult to specify what such a combination might be," he told lawmakers. "We assess convincing the Iranian leadership to forgo the eventual development of nuclear weapons will be difficult given the linkage many within the leadership see between nuclear weapons and Iran's key national security and foreign policy objectives, and given Iran's considerable effort from at least the late 1980s to 2003 to develop such weapons," he said. Despite being the world's number four crude oil producer and holding the second largest gas reserves, Iran insists it needs nuclear power to sustain a growing population, saying its fossil fuel will run out in the coming decades. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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Jordan says four firms bid to build nuclear plant
Amman (AFP) March 10, 2009Jordan said on Monday that four international firms have proposed to build a nuclear plant in the energy-poor kingdom to help generate power and desalinate water. |
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