DUBAI: Iran plans to build more nuclear power reactors in an earthquake-prone coastal area, Iranian media said yesterday, a day after a strong tremor struck the region close to its only existing such plant.
Tehran has repeatedly rejected safety concerns about Bushehr, which is located in a highly seismic area on Iran’s Gulf coast and began operations in 2011 after decades of delays.
The head of the Islamic state’s Atomic Energy Organisation said hours after the earthquake that more reactors would be built there.
“This earthquake had no impact on the Bushehr nuclear power plant installation,” Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani told state television late on Tuesday in comments published by the semi-official Mehr News Agency yesterday.
“Not only was the power plant not producing electricity or sending it to the grid at the time, but even while operating the Bushehr power plant has been designed to withstand earthquakes of more than 8.0 on the Richter scale,” he said.
The Bushehr site is capable of holding six power reactors and construction of two more units of at least 1,000 megawatts will start in the “near future” there, he said. Reuters
