Iran’s only nuclear power plant in operation after shutdown

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TEHRAN – Iran’s only nuclear power plant has been restarted after an emergency shutdown two weeks ago, state TV reported on Saturday.

The report quoted Mustafa Rajabi Mashhadi, a spokesman for the country’s Energy Ministry, as saying that the Bushehr plant “has returned to production capacity” after completing the necessary maintenance.

Al-Mashhadi did not give details, but Iran’s Nuclear Energy Ministry said last week that engineers were working to fix the plant’s broken generator.

Authorities warned earlier this year that the Bushehr plant could be closed due to US sanctions that prevent Iran from buying equipment for repairs.

Uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, operates in Bushehr, and is subject to monitoring by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. The International Atomic Energy Agency acknowledged it was aware of the reports about the plant, but declined to comment.

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Construction began at Bushehr, on the coast of the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf, under the rule of the Shah of Iran in the mid-1970s. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the factory was repeatedly targeted in the Iran-Iraq war. Russia later completed construction of the facility.

In this Aug. 20, 2010 photo, an Iranian security man passes the gate of the Bushehr nuclear power plant with the reactor building in the background, outside the city of Bushehr 750 miles (1,245 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran, Iran. (Associated Press/Wahid Salmi)

A 1,000 MW plant feeds the grid with enough power for a fraction of the country’s 64,000 MW consumption.

Iran’s Persian Gulf neighbors have often raised concerns about the reliability of the Bushehr facility and the risk of radioactive leaks in the event of a major earthquake.

In April, Bushehr province was hit by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, which injured five people but “did not cause any damage” to the nuclear complex, according to the authorities. No major earthquakes have been reported in the region in recent days.

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