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Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant in final testing stages

Updated: 2011-08-28 09:07

(Xinhua)

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TEHRAN - Iran announced Saturday that its first nuclear power plant Bushehr is undergoing the final tests.

Deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Ahmadian, said Saturday the pre-launch tests for Bushehr nuclear power plant are in their final stages, the local satellite Press TV reported.

"We hope that the plant will join the national power grid, based on the specified time line," Ahmadian told reporters in the southern city of Bushehr.

Parts of the tests on the plant's turbines have been carried out in the past days and the final tests are being conducted in the current days, Ahmadian said, adding that the reactors will be tested after the turbines.

The plant's joining into the national grid is a "lengthy process" and it must be done in different phases in order to ensure that the plant functions correctly, said the report.

Due to the sensitivity related to nuclear plants, safety has been the AEOI's "top priority" in launching the Bushehr plant, he added.

Earlier this month, head of the AEOI, Fereidoon Abbasi said his country was planning for the official inauguration of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in mid-November or in December, Press TV reported.

The Bushehr nuclear power plant was nearing its preoperation phase, which means that initial tests for its reactor and turbine were in the final stages, Abbasi was quoted as saying.

He said the steam which had been produced in the plant was injected to the turbine and electricity was generated, which was tentatively and intermittently connected to the electricity grid for the tests required.

Abbasi had said earlier that the first phase of Bushehr nuclear power plant would start by the end of August if the tests underway were completed.

If the tests were completed, the first stage of the plant would surely become operational by the end of Ramadan (August), said Abbasi.

He added that the nuclear power plant would join the national grid at the first phase and could consequently work to 40 percent of its total capacity.

Construction of the Bushehr plant began in 1975 by several German companies. However, the work was halted when the United States imposed a hi-tech supplies embargo on Iran after the 1979 revolution in the country. Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998.

Completion of the plant's construction has been postponed several times due to technical and financial challenges and pressure from the United States.

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