Tehran
Iran’s only nuclear power plant has been temporarily shut down over a ‘technical fault’, the country’s atomic energy body said in a statement.
The Bushehr plant and its 1,000-megawatt reactor, on Iran’s southern coast, were completed by Russia after years of delay and officially handed over in September 2013.
The shutdown comes as Tehran and world powers attempt to revive a hobbled 2015 agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme in Vienna talks, which an EU negotiator said Sunday were moving ‘closer to a deal’.
That agreement is stanchly opposed by Israel, which Tehran has accused in the past of sabotage against its nuclear enrichment efforts.
‘Following a technical fault at Bushehr power plant, and after a one-day notice to the energy ministry, the plant was temporarily shut down and taken off the power grid,’ the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said on its website around Sunday midnight.
The statement said the plant will be reconnected to the grid and the issue will be resolved ‘in a few days’, but did not elaborate further.
Iran’s national electricity company had in a statement on Sunday called on Iranians to minimise consumption during peak hours due to a ‘predicted rise in temperature’ and ‘limitations in power generation due to ongoing repairs’ at Bushehr.
The company said that the repairs may continue until the end of the week, which is Friday in Iran.—APP
