Iran has poured concrete for a new section of the second nuclear reactor near its southern port of Bushehr. The Head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Eslami, said that the government's support had accelerated the construction of the two reactors under deals worth €1.8bn ($1.9bn). In June concrete was poured for the wall of the second Bushehr unit. Eslami said then that plans had been put in place to expedite the construction of units 2&3 at the plant.
Bushehr unit 1, built by Rosatom, began in 2011 and reached full capacity the following year. Rosatom subsidiary ASE, which is the general contractor for the Bushehr project, and Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran signed an EPC turnkey contract for construction of two VVER-1000 reactors Bushehr 2&3 in 2014 and preliminary work began at the site in December 2016. In March 2017, construction officially began of the two units, which were planned to be commissioned in 2024 and 2026. Pouring of first concrete for Bushehr 2 took place in November 2019.
"The construction works in the two Bushehr nuclear reactors have increased ten-fold compared with previous years, Eslami said. “Those involved in the project have been working round the clock in three shifts." He added that hoped first concrete would soon be poured for the third unit. "We hope that the second unit will be completed and inaugurated in less than five years and the third unit 1.5 years after that," he said.
Masoud Nasouri, the engineer in charge of the project for the construction of the second and third Bushehr reactors, said that the two units will save Iran 10m barrels of oil and $1,600bn cubic metres of gas a year and avoid the emission of 7m tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
Image: Concrete is poured for a part of the second reactor at Bushehr nuclear power plant
