Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant reconnected to grid
This is an achievement, Tehran says. It takes place during the COVID-19 crisis and shows that Iran can continue to advance despite difficulties.
By SETH J. FRANTZMANIranian workers stand in front of Bushehr nuclear power plant, 1,200 km south of Tehran(photo credit: MEHR NEWS AGENCY/MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS)
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant has been reconnected to the national grid after maintenance and an overhaul. Relevant tests were conducted and it was reconnected, the country's Tasnim media.This is an achievement, Tehran says. It takes place during the COVID-19 crisis and shows that Iran can continue to advance despite difficulties. The plant will help meet summertime peak electricity consumption.The head of the plant says that "the process of nuclear fuel exchange for nuclear plants is very sensitive and a complex process, and is carried out by skilled Iranian operators using technological skills.” That reads more like a word salad than explaining what his technicians actually do. He did mention that the “fresh core inside the reactor heart is loaded and replaced with used fuel.”It seems the electric workers were more concerned about COVID-19 and making sure it didn’t affect the work crews. The Islamic Republic considers the plant a point of pride and honor, the report says. Iran is in the small club of countries that can maintain and operate a nuclear power plant.The report says that the plant has the capacity to produce 1,000 megawatts of power and that it was completed in 2011, when it was first connected to the national grid. Iran began building a second nuclear reactor at Bushehr in November 2017. It would be one of three it wants to build, each with the same 1,000 megawatt production capability. Russia has been involved in this work and according to Al-Jazeera, the plants use uranium from Russia and are monitored by the UN and the IAEA.This plant has its origins in the 1970s but was completed and operational only in the last ten years. Iran is under scrutiny for its enrichment of nuclear material and violation of the 2015 JCPOA after the US walked away from the Iran nuclear deal.
