Iran to launch nuclear research reactor

TEHRAN: An Iranian nuclear reactor being converted from heavy water production into a power generating research facility will be launched within a year, a spokesman for parliament’s energy commission announced.

Under a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, the Islamic republic shut down the original Arak reactor in Markazi province so that it could not produce militarygrade plutonium.

It also pledged that a replacement of the original reactor with a new one would support “peaceful nuclear research”.

Quoted on Sunday by the Fars news agency, Mustafa Nakhai, spokesman of the legislature’s energy commission, said “the Arak IR-20 reactor will be launched in a year from now”.

Mr Nakhai said he was in turn quoting Mohamed Eslami, newly appointed to head the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation (AEOI).

He also quoted Mr Eslami as saying the new IR-20 reactor at Arak will feed into the generation of a planned 8,000 MW of nuclear power, to be achieved by the construction of additional reactors, state news agency IRNA reported.

Nuclear chief Mr Eslami also said in mid-September during a site visit to Arak that Iran wanted to establish the long-planned research facility “as quickly as possible”.

The AEOI had said early this year that it would cold test the new reactor in the first three months of the Iranian year, which began on March 21.