Iran building new nuclear plant in Isfahan

Iran has begun construction of a new nuclear plant for civilian purposes in the central province of Isfahan (city of Shahrrza), member of Iran's Majlis Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Avaz Heidarpour, IRNA reported. Heidarpour told reporters that the new site is currently under construction in the city of Shahreza, with the objective of supplying the country's demands for civilian nuclear products. He added that the site is scheduled to be inaugurated within the next three years. The site will facilitate the supplying of Iran's medical and agricultural needs, the Iranian Heidarpour explained. Iran officially launched its first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant in the southwestern city of Bushehr on September 12, 2011, which began generating electricity at 40 percent of its capacity. The plant was connected to the country's national electricity grid with the power of 60 MW on September 3. It reached the capacity of 190 MW on September 27, and a day later it improved its capacity to 300 MW. The plant gained 50 percent of its nominal power on October 7 as it reached the capacity of 420 MW. The United States, the Israeli regime, and a number of their Western allies have repeatedly accused Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program without producing any verifiable evidence to back their claims. Iran insists that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology meant for peaceful purposes. In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never pointed to any evidence indicating that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to weapons production. Edited by: S. Isayev