Pezeshkian Orders Expansion of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian toured Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in the south, ordering the launch of two operations at the facility, as per Iranian Presidency official website report.

The southern province, which has a long coastline on the Gulf, is the fourth destination of Pezeshkian’s provincial trips since he took office in late July 2024.

He visited different parts of the nuclear power plant which is being developed within three phases. The two operations Pezeshkian ordered to launch are related to phases 2 and 3, which include the installation of key equipment at the reactor building of the second unit to increase safety.

Another operation involves excavating the foundation for pump buildings of the second and third units. 

The equipment installed as part of phase 2 project is one of the key parts of passive safety systems. It is designed to limit severe accidents in third-plus generation [3+] nuclear power plants, with the aim of maintaining and cooling the materials resulted from the meltdown of nuclear fuel bundles and the reactor core in order to protect the environment and the public.

The pump buildings of the second and third units of the Bushehr nuclear power plant are equipped with 18 main pumps, and will supply cooling water for the turbine condenser and emergency diesel generators.

During his tour of the phase 1 projects, Pezeshkian was briefed on activities involving production and transfer of electricity to the power grid.

The first phase of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is currently producing 1,015 MW of electricity. Since its inauguration eleven years ago, the first phase of the plant has produced a total of 72 billion KW/H of electricity, saving 114 million barrels of crude oil.

The second and third phases of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant each has a nominal capacity of 1,057 MW of electricity production.