TEHRAN: Iran’s nuclear expansion plans target 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity by 2041, Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran chief Mohammad Eslami said Tuesday.
Eslami told a televised interview that Iran’s nuclear industry had advanced through long-term strategic policies, guidance and support of martyred Leader Ayatollah Syed Ali Khamenei.
He said Iran continued its nuclear technology and power generation work despite sustained efforts by enemies to block the country’s progress.
Eslami said the first unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran was operating, while construction of the second and third units was underway.
He said Iran had prepared plans for additional nuclear power plants along the southern coastline, in Khuzestan Province and in northern Golestan Province.
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Engineering contracts have been signed for a planned 5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in Hormozgan Province, Eslami said.
The AEOI chief said the Hormozgan project formed part of Iran’s plan to reach 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity by the Iranian calendar year 1420, which starts on March 20, 2041.
Under Iran’s long-term development plan, additional nuclear power plants are expected to start entering service around 2030 and 2031, he said.
Eslami said Bushehr had generated 80 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity since becoming operational.
He said producing the same amount of electricity with fossil fuels would have required more than 130 million barrels of oil, valued at about $10 billion at current market prices.
Eslami said AEOI now supplies about 80 radiopharmaceuticals to medical and nuclear medicine centres under an agreement with the country’s Food and Drug Administration. About 1.5 million people benefit from those products each year, he said.
