Iran Starts Construction Of New Nuclear Power Plant

The construction of a new 300 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant in Iran’s southwestern province of Khuzestan got underway on Saturday. 

The new nuclear power plant, named “Karun”, is located in Darkhoveyn district near Shadegan county of Khuzestan Province.

The project was inaugurated by Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami.

Located in an area of around 50 hectares near the Karun River, the nuclear power plant will be furnished with a pressurized water reactor (PWR), a type of light-water nuclear reactor, to generate electricity with a capacity of 300 megawatts.

A pressurized water reactor circulates light water as its coolant and uses uranium oxide enriched to around 4% purity as its fuel.

The new power plant, estimated to take 8 years to come on stream, has been designed by domestic experts and will be furnished with the use of domestic technologies.

With a budget of 1.5 to 2 billion dollars, the project will supply the region’s need for electricity.

Iranian companies are going to manufacture the power plant’s fixed equipment and also design and produce its coolant pumps.