Bushehr N. Power Plant to Undergo Temporary Refueling Outage
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said on Saturday that the country’s Bushehr nuclear power plant will be reloaded with fuel within the next few days, a process during which the facility will be temporarily disconnected from the national grid.
According to the AEOI official website, the power plant will be cut off the national grid in the process of refueling, during which one third of the Fuel Manufacturing Plants (FMPs) in the facility will be replaced with fresh FMPs, weighing about 27 tons.
The AEOI also noted that the Bushehr nuclear power plant has so far generated nearly 7 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity, with a daily average of 24,000 megawatt hours over the cold days of this year’s autumn and winter, thus resulting in a saving of 6 million liters per day of liquid fuel in the country’s fossil power plants.
In parallel with the refueling operation, the AEOI announced, the annual preventative maintenance and repair of the plant’s equipment will be carried out under the supervision of Iranian experts, and with the assistance of Iranian and Russian companies.
In September last year, Iran took temporary control of its Bushehr nuclear power plant for a two-year trial period, after which the country will be in overall charge of the power plant.
Head of the AEOI, Ali Akbar Salehi, had announced earlier that during the two-year trial period the power plant will be under Russian guarantee and a number of Russian experts will remain in place to give advice and technical assistance.
Russia has agreed to provide the power plant’s fuel for 10 years, with the supply deal committing Tehran to returning the spent fuel.
The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant became officially operational and was connected to Iran’s national grid in September 2011.
Iran and Russia have assured the international community that the plant is fully compliant with high-level safety standards and the IAEA safeguards.
