The President of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami said Iran had unveiled 150 scientific and technological achievements in the nuclear industry in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on 19 March. He made the remarks at a ceremony to mark the national Nuclear Technology Day.
Among the achievements, 15 were registered in the radiopharmaceuticals field, Eslami said, adding Iran ranked among the world's top three countries in this area. He noted that using alpha particles for cancer treatment a key achievement in the area, the use of which he said had only recently started in the world.
He also noted that irradiation systems will be installed in 12 centres across the country to prevent 130 tonnes of agriculture products from rotting. Plans are underway to open 50 clinics in the country for the treatment of wounds by implementing plasma technology, he added.
Eslami said that Iran will hold its first international nuclear conference within a month, adding experts from 30 countries had agreed to take part in the event. “The conference will be an important event and for the first time we can have a realistic narrative of our country’s scientific and technological status with the literature appropriate for an international conference.”
Eslami outlined measures undertaken by the AEOI to generate 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity in the coming years, including the construction of several new power plants in the southern region of the country and expansion of the Bushehr NPP.
Meanwhile, the head of the Bushehr NPP, Masoud Nasouri, said Iran’s nuclear power generation capacity will increase to 3,000 MWe upon the completion of the construction operation of two new units, each with an electricity generation capacity of 1,057 MWe.
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.
Image: Bushehr nuclear power plant
