Global General

Iran to continue nuclear enrichment for power plants

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-08-15 20:11

TEHRAN - Head of Iran's Majlis (Parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said Sunday the continuation of uranium enrichment is inevitable and Iran needs it for its future power plants, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Related readings:  Russia to load fuel in Iran reactor on Aug 21  Iran warns US against any military action  Russia to load fuel in Iran reactor on Aug 21  US, Israel and the Iran question

Asked by reporters whether Iran will continue enrichment after fuel injection into the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant or not, Alaeddin Boroujerdi replied that fuel injection and uranium enrichment are two different issues, the report said.

The Russian Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) said Friday that the launch of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran has been set for August 21.

In the day, Russia announced that accordingly it will begin loading fuel rods into Iran's first nuclear power station at Bushehr next week.

If Iran builds another nuclear power plant in the future or the Russian side does so, we will need to provide fuel for it, Boroujerdi told reporters.

Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant construction in 1998.

The start-up date has been postponed for a number of times. It was originally scheduled for September 2007 but was delayed by serious financing shortage.