Iran lists 16 sites for nuclear expansion

IRAN has selected 16 locations as suitable for new nuclear power plants it ­intends to build to boost its energy production over the next 15 years, officials said yesterday.

The Islamic republic says it needs 20 large-scale plants to meet its growing electricity needs over the next decade and a half. It currently operates a 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant at Bushehr, a coastal town on the Persian Gulf, and is planning to build a 360-megawatt nuclear power plant in the south-west town of Darkhovin.

“The whole country has been studied in the past years,” said vice-president Fereidoun Abbasi, who also heads Iran’s atomic energy organisation.

“Adequate locations, on the basis of global parameters, were probed and 
16 locations at various parts of the country were ­identified,” he said in ­comments published by the 
semi-official ISNA news agency.

A statement released by his organisation said the sites were chosen in part for their resistance to earthquakes and military airstrikes.

“Geologic, demographic, topographic, seismic, meteorological and hydrologic criteria as well as access to power transmission lines ... were given into consideration,” it said.

Separately, state television said Iran has discovered new uranium resources in what it characterised as a “big ­discovery”.

As United Nations’ sanctions ban Iran from importing any nuclear material, it has focused on developing domestic uranium reserves.

The United States and some of its allies fear that Iran could ultimately be able to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran has denied the charges, maintaining that its nuclear programme is geared merely toward peaceful purposes such as generating electricity and producing radioactive isotopes for medical use – not to make atomic bombs.