Iran’s long-delayed first nuclear power plant has been tested successfully, a senior Iranian nuclear official announced on Monday.
“A 250 bar (atmospheric) pressure test has been successfully carried out at the Bushehr nuclear plant,” Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Director Mohammad Ali Salehi said at a press conference with visiting Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko in Tehran.
In February, tests were carried out at the power plant using “dummy” fuel rods loaded with lead in place of enriched uranium to simulate nuclear fuel.
But the Russian energy minister refused to say when the nuclear power plant would become operational.
“There is no need to make another (start date) promise,” IRNA quoted Shmatko as saying.
“We have been working on this power plant jointly with a sense of responsibility, and the plant will be fully operational in a short time,” he added.
