Iran to completely substitute Tehran nuclear reactor core

Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 20 / Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/ Iran will put more nuclear fuel rods into the Tehran nuclear reactor in Amirabad, thus completely substituting its core, Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Firudin Abbasi said, ISNA reported. The nuclear reactor core (also referred to as the "reactor core" or the "core") is the region within a nuclear reactor where the nuclear fuel assemblies are located and the nuclear reaction consequently takes place. The core of the reactor contains all the nuclear fuels and generates all of the heat. It contains low-enriched uranium, control systems and structural materials. The core contains hundreds of thousands of individual fuel pins. Abbasi stressed that the country will be first conducting necessary tests, before actually placing the new rods into the reactor. He said Iran plans to accomplish the task next year (Iranian year ends on March 20). It is planned to put 19 more fuel rods into the reactor, with one already put there a week ago, when Iran announced its latest achievements in the nuclear sphere. A week ago Iran has unveiled new achievements of its nuclear program, one of which was a successful placement of a domestically-produced nuclear rod into the Amirabad nuclear reactor. The ceremony took place in Tehran's Nuclear Facility in Amirabad, in presence of country's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and other government officials, as well as nuclear scientists and journalists. Iran says its nuclear program is confined to production of peaceful atomic energy which it says is a fundamental right of any country. Western nations and Israel have charged that Tehran is secretly working to build nuclear weapons - an assertion Iran vehemently denies. Tensions in the region over Iran's nuclear activities have been on the rise in recent months as speculation has mounted that Israel may be preparing for a strike on Iranian facilities that the Jewish state says constitute a threat to its national security. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az