Iran’s only nuclear power plant, in Buchehr, in the south of the country, has been put back into service, its director announced early Monday (July 5), two weeks after its shutdown. The suspension of its activity was due to a maintenance operation, according to local authorities. “The technical fault (of the plant) has been resolved” and electricity production has resumed since Sunday, Iranian news agency Isna Mahmoud Jafari, who is also deputy director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (OEAI), told Iranian news agency.
On the night of June 20 to 21, the OASI announced the temporary shutdown of the plant and its disconnection from the national electricity grid, citing a “Technical failure”, without specifying the nature of the problem. The organization had announced, two days later, a ” Technical problem “, according to her, “Observed in the generator” electrical unit, promising to solve it ” as soon as possible “.
Bouchehr is a port in the Gulf, closer to the capitals of several monarchies of the Arabian Peninsula than to Tehran, which is why the plant, built in an area prone to frequent earthquakes, worries neighboring states.
Earthquake in April
In April, the region was rocked by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake, according to the American geological institute USGS. The earthquake left five people injured, according to Iranian state media. “All the facilities, equipment and buildings of the Bouchehr nuclear power plant are in perfect condition and its activities have not been interrupted” by the earthquake, then affirmed the public relations service of the central, in a statement taken up by the official Iranian press agency.
The Bushehr plant, with a 1,000 MW reactor, was built by Russia and was officially delivered in September 2013, after years of delay. A major producer of oil and gas, the Islamic Republic wishes to build twenty nuclear power stations in the long term, in order to diversify its energy resources to be less dependent on fossil fuels for its internal consumption.
