BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 26. The construction of the second and third units at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in southern Iran has been expedited, said Mohammad Eslami, Iran's Vice President and Head of the Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), Trend reports.
Speaking after a cabinet meeting in Tehran today, Eslami stated that the construction of the nuclear plant units is progressing at a fast pace.
The official explained that, while full funding for the project had been secured, the construction of the units typically takes around 7-9 years. Currently, about 5,000 workers are involved in the construction of these blocks.
Eslami added that there had been some delays in the construction of these units until 2023, but these have now been resolved. He mentioned that both the equipment and supplies for the plant are being manufactured in both Russia and Iran.
The Vice President also revealed that the second and third units of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant are expected to be operational by March of 2029.
"Once completed, the electricity generation capacity of Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant will rise from 1,000 megawatts to 3,000 megawatts," he added.
Furthermore, Eslami highlighted that the construction of the Karoon Nuclear Power Plant in the Darkhovin district of southwestern Khuzestan province, with a capacity of 300 megawatts, is ongoing. Orders for the required equipment and supplies have been placed with factories.
The first unit of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant began operations in 2011. An Iranian company took over the unit's operation from Rosatom in 2013. Since 2013, this unit has generated the maximum amount of electricity—1,000 megawatt hours of electricity. Over the past 10 years, electricity generation at Bushehr NPP has exceeded 65 billion kilowatt-hours.
To note, construction of Bushehr NPP Blocks 2 and 3 began in 2017 on an area of 50 ha. Once operational, each of these units can generate 1,057 megawatts of electricity. The commissioning of these two units will save 10 million barrels of crude oil or 1.6 bcm of gas per year and prevent the release of 7 million tons of polluting gases into the environment.
The construction work on Bushehr NPP Units 2 and 3 is presently 17 percent complete.
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