Salehi: Bushehr N. Plant Only One Test Away from Operation
News number: 881119072512:26 | 2010-02-08Nuclear
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8811190725

Salehi: Bushehr N. Plant Only One Test Away from Operation
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran announced that its first nuclear power plant in the
southern city of Bushehr will launch operation after accomplishing the only
remaining test.

"There remains just one test named 'Warm Water Test' before we can launch
the power plant," Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali
Akbar Salehi told FNA.

"We will inject fuel to the heart of the reactor after that (final test),"
Salehi added.

He underlined that the plant is nearing completion and is going through its
final phases.

Noting the latest operations carried out in the plant, Salehi said that
Bushehr has passed an array of tests in the last few months, and pointed out
that the Metal Core Test has been the latest test accomplished by the power
plant.

Last month, Atomstroyexport, the Russian contractor of Bushehr power plant,
announced that it has tested the second circuit equipment of the plant
successfully.

The test is a step toward the completion of the plant, and the hydraulic
testing of second circuit equipment of the Bushehr nuclear power plant with
pressure buildup to 110 kg/cm2 was successfully completed.

Atomstroyexport previously announced that it successfully completed the
hydraulic testing of primary circuit equipment of the plant.

In January, Head of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom Sergei
Kiriyenko reiterated that his country will launch Iran's Bushehr nuclear
power plant in 2010.

"All the work is going as scheduled. The tests are a success. This year will
be the year of the launch of Bushehr," Kiriyenko said.

In December, Salehi had announced that the power plant in Bushehr had
successfully passed the main tests.

Western corporations began the construction of the Bushehr facility in the
1970s. However, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Western
companies reneged on their commitments and pulled out of the project due to
political pressure from Washington.

Iran then turned to Russia to complete the project. In 1992, Tehran and
Moscow signed a deal to complete the construction of the nuclear power
plant.