Nation & World | Iran must remove fuel from nuclear plant | Seattle Times Newspaper

Nation & World | Iran must remove fuel from nuclear plant | Seattle Times Newspaper

Iran must remove fuel from nuclear plant

In a major setback to Iran's nuclear program, technicians will have to unload fuel from the country's first atomic-power plant because of an unspecified safety concern, a senior government official said.

By ALI AKBAR DAREINI

The Associated Press



EBRAHIM NOROUZI / AP

A worker stands at the entry of Bushehr plant reactor. Fuel must be unloaded from Iran's first nuclear plant.

TEHRAN, Iran — In a major setback to Iran's nuclear program, technicians will have to unload fuel from the country's first atomic-power plant because of an unspecified safety concern, a senior government official said.

The vague explanation raised questions about whether the mysterious computer worm known as Stuxnet might have caused more damage at the Bushehr plant than previously acknowledged. Other explanations are possible for unloading the fuel rods from the reactor core of the newly completed plant, including routine technical difficulties.

While the exact reason behind the fuel's removal is unclear, the admission is seen as a major embarrassment for Tehran because it has touted Bushehr — Iran's first atomic-power plant — as its showcase nuclear facility and sees it as a source of national pride. When the Islamic Republic began loading the fuel just four months ago, Iranian officials celebrated the achievement.

Iran's envoy to the U.N. nuclear-monitoring agency in Vienna said that Russia, which provided the fuel and helped construct the Bushehr plant, had demanded the fuel be taken out.

"Upon a demand from Russia, which is responsible for completing the Bushehr nuclear-power plant, fuel assemblies from the core of the reactor will be unloaded for a period of time to carry out tests and take technical measurements," the semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Ali Asghar Soltanieh as saying. "After the tests are conducted, (the fuel) will be placed in the core of the reactor once again."

"Iran always gives priority to the safety of the plant based on highest global standards," Soltanieh added.

Calls to the Russian nuclear-agency Rosatom for comment were not answered Saturday afternoon.

The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said the fuel unloading was nothing unusual.

"It's a kind of technical inspection and to obtain confidence about the safety of the reactor," Hamid Khadem Qaemi told the official IRNA news agency. He accused foreign media of blowing the issue out of proportion.