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Iran tests its first nuclear power plant

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-25 21:01

BUSHEHR, Iran -- Iranian and Russian officials tested Wednesday the first nuclear power plant built in Iran, a move likely to raise concerns among the US and its Western allies worried over Iranian atomic ambitions.

A general view of a nuclear power plant in Bushehr, about 1,215 km (755 miles) south of Tehran, is seen in this April 3, 2007 file photo. [Agencies]

The pilot operations at the 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor in the southern Iranian port of Bushehr, built with Russian assistance under a $1 billion contract, have long been delayed over construction and supply glitches.

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It's unclear when the reactor could be switched on. Test runs normally occur a few months before a reactor's start-up.

The plant will be run on enriched uranium, which has worried the West because the spent fuel could later be turned into plutonium, potential material for nuclear warheads. Iran has denied it is pursuing nuclear weapons, maintaining its program is only for peaceful purposes.

The West also wants to stop Iran's uranium enrichment program, saying it could produce not only fuel but weapons-grade material.

At the Bushehr plant, Iranian nuclear spokesman Mohsen Shirazi said virtual fuel, consisting of lead meant to imitate the density of enriched uranium, was being loaded into the reactor.

Russian nuclear agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko inspected the process with his Iranian counterpart, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh.

Aghazadeh, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the test was going well and the virtual fuel was loaded "in a proper way."

"Today was one of the most important days for the Iranian nation," said Aghazadeh. "We are approaching full exploitation of this plant."

Kiriyenko said work remains to be done to "speed up the launching of the site" but the Russian-Iranian team was "approaching the final stage" before the plant becomes operational.

"This (test) is one of the major elements of an extensive project," he said. "After the virtual fueling, we will check to see how the reactor will operate."

US concerns over Bushehr softened somewhat after Iran agreed to return spent fuel from the reactor to Russia, a measure aimed to ensure it doesn't extract any plutonium.

Bushehr uses enriched uranium imported from Russia, rather than domestically produced fuel. Fuel deliveries began in 2007.

In Israel, Yigal Palmor, Foreign Ministry spokesman said the testing reflected the "Iranians are showing again that they are making progress in their nuclear race."

"This should be understood as very bad news for the whole of the international community," Palmor said, calling for "immediate and very determined steps in order to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power."

The Bushehr reactor was initially to start in 2008 and some 700 Iranian engineers were trained in Russia over four years to operate the plant.

Shirazi told a group of reporters invited to Bushehr during Wednesday's testing that no electricity would be produced yet.

The Bushehr project dates backs to 1974, when Iran signed an agreement to build the reactor with the German company Siemens, which withdrew from the project after 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. In 1992, Iran signed an agreement with Russia to complete the project and work began on it in 1995.