Iran Makes First Test-run of Bushehr Nuclear Reactor
Substitute fuel used in pilot trial of facility that Tehran says is for energy, but west claims is step towards nuclear weapon
Iran today claimed a symbolic landmark in its quest to join the nuclear club by staging a dummy run of its long-delayed Bushehr reactor, built with Russian help.
The plant's inauguration took place with virtual fuel consisting of lead, which officials said was designed to simulate the enriched uranium needed to make it fully functional. The 1000-megawatt reactor is not expected to come into proper operation until later this year.
Today's maiden launch was carried out with great fanfare in the presence of high-level dignitaries and foreign journalists, in an exercise apparently designed to send an international signal of Iran's determination to achieve nuclear status.
The symbolism of the event is likely to dismay western powers, who suspect Iran's nuclear program is a front for building an atomic weapon rather than designed to produce electricity, as Tehran insists.
Western concern has focused on Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz rather than Bushehr, whose construction has depended on help from Russia, which has also expressed fears about the Iranian nuclear program.
Today's launch was attended by Russian nuclear officials, including the head of Moscow's nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko. Russia insists that the Bushehr plant is purely civilian and cannot be used to make bombs.
However, Russian involvement in the £700m-project has been problematic because of the country's status as a permanent member of the UN security council, which has imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran because of its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.
Russia completed nuclear fuel deliveries for Bushehr last year, after a series of long delays blamed by Moscow on late payments but which Iran suspected was a Russian attempt to pressure them into concessions in its dispute with the security council.
Work on Bushehr originally started 34 years ago, during the reign of the shah with the help of the German contractor, Siemens. It was suspended shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, when Siemens claimed it had not been paid.
The mothballed plant later sustained bomb damage during the 1980 – 88 war between Iran and Iraq, when much of its equipment was looted.
The plant's inauguration took place with virtual fuel consisting of lead, which officials said was designed to simulate the enriched uranium needed to make it fully functional. The 1000-megawatt reactor is not expected to come into proper operation until later this year.
Today's maiden launch was carried out with great fanfare in the presence of high-level dignitaries and foreign journalists, in an exercise apparently designed to send an international signal of Iran's determination to achieve nuclear status.
The symbolism of the event is likely to dismay western powers, who suspect Iran's nuclear program is a front for building an atomic weapon rather than designed to produce electricity, as Tehran insists.
Western concern has focused on Iran's uranium enrichment facility at Natanz rather than Bushehr, whose construction has depended on help from Russia, which has also expressed fears about the Iranian nuclear program.
Today's launch was attended by Russian nuclear officials, including the head of Moscow's nuclear agency, Sergei Kiriyenko. Russia insists that the Bushehr plant is purely civilian and cannot be used to make bombs.
However, Russian involvement in the £700m-project has been problematic because of the country's status as a permanent member of the UN security council, which has imposed three rounds of sanctions on Iran because of its failure to suspend uranium enrichment.
Russia completed nuclear fuel deliveries for Bushehr last year, after a series of long delays blamed by Moscow on late payments but which Iran suspected was a Russian attempt to pressure them into concessions in its dispute with the security council.
Work on Bushehr originally started 34 years ago, during the reign of the shah with the help of the German contractor, Siemens. It was suspended shortly after the 1979 Islamic revolution, when Siemens claimed it had not been paid.
The mothballed plant later sustained bomb damage during the 1980 – 88 war between Iran and Iraq, when much of its equipment was looted.
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