Azernews.Az

Friday March 29 2024

Hungary, Iran to cooperate in nuclear project

7 April 2017 12:55 (UTC+04:00)
Hungary, Iran to cooperate in nuclear project

By Kamila Aliyeva

Hungary will cooperate with the Islamic Republic of Iran on setting up a small nuclear reactor for scientific-educational purposes, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff told a news conference on April 6.

Janos Lazar said in response to a question that the cooperation will be within the framework of an agreement between Iran, the EU and the United States, Reuters reported. He said the cooperation had been agreed during Orban’s visit to Iran in 2015.

"When the Prime Minister was there, we undertook to take part in jointly creating a mini nuclear plant with educational, scientific purposes, and now this agreement will be implemented," Lazar said.

In February 2016, Iran's top nuclear official Ali Akbar Salehi said the country had proposed a pilot project to Hungary to design a 25-megawatt reactor and then a reactor of up to 100 megawatts to be sold in Africa and Asia.

According to him, the reactor would fit the poorer countries in the region, as it requires less cooling water. "One particular project that I suggested was to see if we can... together design a small reactor of 25 megawatts. It was received well, and we hope that we can start this project, just on paper,” Salehi said.

Following the lifting of international sanctions on Iran, Tehran has strived to fully utilize economic and scientific opportunities, including the pursuit of peaceful nuclear activities. The Islamic Republic also enjoys close nuclear cooperation with Russia.

Last week, the two countries signed an agreement to build two new nuclear power plants in Iran’s southern city of Bushehr.

Iran, five permanent UN Security Council members, Germany and the European Union signed the JCPOA in July 2015 to ensure the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program. Then, the Islamic republic pledged to refrain from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions imposed against Iran.

The agreement provides that in return for verifiable abiding by its commitments, Iran receives relief from U.S., European Union, and UN Security Council nuclear-related economic sanctions.

---

Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more