IAEA Inspectors To Supervise Iran’s Bushehr NPP Fuel Changeover
By Umid Niayesh
Inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will attend the procedure of the Bushehr nuclear power plant’s fuel changeover next week, deputy head of the Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Mohammad Ahmadian said, Iranian ISNA news agency reported on Jan. 30.
Ahmadian went on to say that about one third of the power plant’s fuel, which is some 27 tons, will be replaced.
Along with replacing the fuel, Iranian and Russian experts will do scheduled annual services of the power plant, he said, adding that the procedure, on the average, will take about 45 days.
The fuel assemblies of the power plant have been sealed by the IAEA inspectors after the primary fueling, Ahmadian underlined.
“The reactor will be sealed again by the IAEA inspectors after the fuel change has been completed,” he added.
Spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Jan. 28 that the Bushehr nuclear power plant is to halt activities for a few days for the fuel changeover.
He further explained that the fuel changeover operations were due to take place in mid January but were delayed upon the request of ministries of oil and energy that wanted to use the gas needed by the power plant for household consumption because of the cold season in the country.
Ahmadian underlined that the Bushehr power plant produced daily 24,000 megawatts hour of electricity during the cold season, which led to savings of about 6 million liters of liquid fuel in thermal power plants of the country.
