Bushehr plant unaffected by Stuxnet

A top official at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the Bushehr nuclear power plant in south of the country has remained unaffected by the Stuxnet computer worm.

“The industrial systems at the Bushehr nuclear power station are not directly linked to the power plant’s network,” AEOI deputy chief Mohammad Ahmadian said Sunday.

He added that many of the industrial software and operating systems at the facility are not Windows-based and have therefore been unaffected by the Stuxnet worm.

He said accessing the facility’s computer and communications systems requires special permissions and before any hardware is connected to the system it is inspected.

“In the case of the general systems that are connected to the Internet, virus protection software can be used to block unauthorized access,” ISNA quoted Ahmadian as saying.

“Excellent and safe software have been developed in the country and our colleagues at the AEOI are using them,” he added.

Ahmadian went on to suggest that Tehran-Moscow can continue cooperation on the construction of power plants in the future.

“Currently our priority is to finish work on the Bushehr power plant. If work on the power plant is finished well, and it appears that the Russians are intent on it, naturally we will consider all options including cooperation with the Russians for [the construction] of other [power plant] units.”