Analyst: Iran Resolved to Produce Domestic Needs to N. Fuel
News number: 8906070885 13:26 | 2010-08-29
Nuclear
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8906070885

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran is determined to provide the needed fuel for its nuclear
power plants through domestic resources and enrichment facilities within the
country, an Iranian analyst said.

"Tehran has been resolutely pursuing the goal of developing domestic nuclear
fuel capability to become self-sufficient in this regard," Hassan
Beheshtipour said.

"Iranian officials argue that the country should be independent in providing
nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants under the watchful eyes of the
International Atomic Energy Agency," he added.

On August 21, Tehran officially started loading fuel into the Bushehr plant
in southern Iran, 35 years after its construction began.

The plant is set to produce 500 megawatts of electricity in the initial
stage, and its production capacity will be increased to 1,000 megawatts in
the near future.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi has
announced that nuclear power generation will start in December. Therefore,
it will take four months before nuclear fuel is fully delivered into the
core reactor to produce enough power for electricity generation.

The analyst believes that the power plant is not just a local facility in
Bushehr but a prelude to construction of at least seven more nuclear power
plants nationwide.

He said generation of 1,000 MW of nuclear power by Bushehr plant will not
compensate for Iran's electricity shortage and the country plans to build
more nuclear plants in coming years, which is "a good starting point" for
the development of nuclear technology in Iran.

He pointed to relations between Tehran and Moscow which had become
relatively tense over frequent postponement of the launch of the Bushehr
power plant and said the inauguration will help improve ties between the two
sides.

However, he stressed that it would have no bearing on the continuation of
enrichment process or forthcoming nuclear negotiations.

"In fact, Iran decided to produce nuclear fuel on its soil after the
Russians frequently changed the schedule for launching Bushehr power plant,
Western states failed to live up to their promises for supplying nuclear
fuel to the Tehran research reactor and France abrogated all previously
signed agreements for nuclear cooperation with Iran."

The fact that Iran is not running any nuclear power plant right now is no
reason to prevent the country from achieving uranium enrichment technology,
he said.

The analyst deemed as "excuse" the US allegations that Iran should stop
enrichment activities after launching Bushehr power plant.

"The power plant had been already excluded from the UN sanctions in order to
encourage Russia vote for the Security Council resolution and also to show
the world that Washington was not against Iran's access to nuclear energy,
but was only opposed to enrichment inside Iran," he said.