The construction began today, September 10, at the site of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the presence of first Vice-Preisdent Es’hagh Jahangiri, Head of the AEOI Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Science Mohammad Farhadi, and CEO of Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko.
The units utilize unique technology and a new concept of safety, with higher efficiency and lower fuel consumption. The predicted time for the completion of the second unit is nine years, and the construction of the third unit will begin 18 months afterwards.
Resources for the construction of these two units have been estimated at approximately $10 billion. Once operational, the units will save up 22 million barrels of oil and prevent the annual emission of 14 million tons of pollutants.
Once all the three power-generating units at the Bushehr site come on stream, about 5 to 6 per cent of the country’s power generating capacity will be supplied by nuclear energy. Furthermore, 200,000 cubic meters of water will be desalinated.
Reduction of the risk of core melt down to 1,000 times, reduction of the risk of radioactive contamination down to 100 times, increasing the plant life from 40 years to 60 years, and increasing efficiency up to over 90 per cent, are among the features of the new units at Bushehr power plant.
Bushehr, Iran’s first Russian-built nuclear power plant, began operations in 2011, and reached its maximum power generation capacity in August 2012, although only accounting for one-seventieth of Iran’s overall consumption.
The project for Bushehr-2 was presented by Russian nuclear experts in Tehran in September 2014. President Hassan Rouhani in late August gave the go-ahead for the construction to commence by allocating money to fund the project.
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