Worm not reason for Iran nuclear reactor delay
Source: Agencies |
October 1, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
IRAN will start loading its Russian-built nuclear reactor with enriched uranium fuel early this month, later than had originally been announced.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi maintained the delay had nothing to do with reports this week of a computer worm infiltrating the Bushehr nuclear reactor, adding that the plant's systems hadn't been affected.
At the nuclear plant's inauguration in August, the vice president said loading the fuel into the reactor core would take place over two weeks and the plant would then produce electricity by November. Salehi gave no reason for the new delay.
"We hope to load the fuel into the Bushehr reactor by early October and the necessary groundwork for this is coming together, God willing, so it (the fuel) will be completely put in place in the heart (of the reactor) by November," Salehi told the semi-official ISNA news agency.
It could still take two months to connect the reactor to the electricity grid so it won't begin powering Iranian cities until early 2011.
The US and some western countries fear Iran's enrichment labs could one day churn out weapons-grade material. Iran says it has no interest in nuclear arms, but refuses to give up the right to make its own fuel.
Iran has some of the world's biggest oil reserves, but lacks refinery capacity to meet domestic demand. Nuclear power is seen as both a goal to meet power needs and an important technological achievement for the Islamic government.
Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi maintained the delay had nothing to do with reports this week of a computer worm infiltrating the Bushehr nuclear reactor, adding that the plant's systems hadn't been affected.
At the nuclear plant's inauguration in August, the vice president said loading the fuel into the reactor core would take place over two weeks and the plant would then produce electricity by November. Salehi gave no reason for the new delay.
"We hope to load the fuel into the Bushehr reactor by early October and the necessary groundwork for this is coming together, God willing, so it (the fuel) will be completely put in place in the heart (of the reactor) by November," Salehi told the semi-official ISNA news agency.
It could still take two months to connect the reactor to the electricity grid so it won't begin powering Iranian cities until early 2011.
The US and some western countries fear Iran's enrichment labs could one day churn out weapons-grade material. Iran says it has no interest in nuclear arms, but refuses to give up the right to make its own fuel.
Iran has some of the world's biggest oil reserves, but lacks refinery capacity to meet domestic demand. Nuclear power is seen as both a goal to meet power needs and an important technological achievement for the Islamic government.
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