Iran announces that Bushehr nuclear power plant will be closed by the end of the year due to lack of fuel and funds • The reactor is not considered part of Iran's military nuclear program
Iranian nuclear reactor in Bushhar city // Photo: Reuters
Iran announced today (Monday) that it is considering closing the nuclear reactor at Bushhar, the country's only nuclear power plant, due to the economic damage caused by the sanctions to the country.
According to a report in the American newspaper Bloomberg, the Iranians claim that the power plant faces a "danger of closure" due to "difficulties in financial liquidity" to obtain nuclear fuel and spare parts for the power plant.
Mahmoud Jafari, the deputy chairman of the Iranian Nuclear Agency, said in an interview with the student news agency in the country: "The fluctuation in currency value and problems related to sanctions on the banking sector have complicated our ability to operate and maintain the power plant."
Jaafari noted that the state is having difficulty meeting payments to Russian contractors operating the nuclear reactor.
The reactor was built by Russian companies and came into use in 2011. The reactors at the station are considered obsolete and they supply electricity only to part of the port city of Bushhar.
The Energy Agency has previously stated that the Bushhar reactor is not linked to Iran's military nuclear program and there is no danger that it will be used to transfer nuclear technology to Iran's military program.
Today most of Iran's electricity is generated from natural gas.