Work for pouring concrete at the site of the second unit of Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in the southern namesake city shows 82% progress, the project manager said Sunday.
“Ten domestic companies with 2,000 people are involved in the construction,” IRNA quoted Masoud Nassouri as saying.
“Despite problems caused by the Covid-19 and financial constraints due to the illegal US sanctions, work on the second unit has continued without any interruption” he added.
The US imposed new economic sanctions on Iran in August 2018, mainly targeting the key industrial sectors. In the May of that year US president, Donald Trump, tore up the landmark 2015 nuclear deal Iran had signed with the six world powers and has since called for a new and comprehensive agreement with Tehran.
In November Washington imposed a second round of sanctions, targeting the key energy sector.
Observing health protocols in the workplace has slowed the pace of construction, Nassouri admitted.
Construction of the first unit of the plant in Bushehr was carried out with the help of Russia. It came on stream in 2011 and reached full capacity (1,000 MW) the following year.
The first unit of Iran’s sole nuclear power plant generated over 40 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from 2011 to 2019 that is equivalent to energy produced by burning more than 60 million barrels of crude.
In 2014, Iran signed a contract with the Russian company Rosatom and its subsidiaries to build two reactors on the same site. The second unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled to come on stream in five years, while the third will be finished in seven years.
The second and third units will each have a capacity of 1,057 MW. Over $10 billion has been allocated for the two units.
Bushehr plant is the first civilian nuclear power facility in the Middle East and operates under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
