Bushehr NPP runs as before despite quake
By Sara Rajabova
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) said the Bushehr nuclear power plant is operating as before despite a recent quake that hit a city near the facility.
Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesman for the AEOI said the Bushehr plant in the south of the country is running at full capacity.
Stressing that the Bushehr facility is among the world's best nuclear plants in terms of meeting safety standards, Kamalvandi said the power station can withstand strong quakes and dismissed safety concerns.
The strong earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale jolted suburbs of Borazjan, in Bushehr province.
The quake's epicenter was near Borazjan, around 60km from Bushehr.
Iran and the Russian contractor of the project Atomstroyexport have assured the international community that the facility is fully compliant with high level safety standards and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The civilian plant is also operating under the full supervision of the IAEA.
Construction of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr was started in 1974 by the German Kraftwerk Union AG (Siemens / KWU) concern but ceased during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
In August 1992, an agreement was signed between the Governments of Russia and Iran on the construction of a nuclear power plant, and in January 1995 a contract was signed to complete the construction of the first power unit of the plant.
The physical start of the Bushehr nuclear plant began under the control of the IAEA on August 21, 2010, with the delivery of the nuclear fuel to the reactor compartment station.
The work bringing the nuclear steam generating plant to the minimum controlled level of power was carried out on the power unit in May 2011.