Iran builds Natanz II enrichment plant

Iran is planning to build a new enrichment plant similar to the Natanz uranium enrichment facility to fuel future nuclear power stations, report say.

“Our organization is installing a new generation of centrifuges at the Natanz plant and we are on the look-out for another location to construct a similar plant, which will enable us to establish a new center for providing fuel for our reactors within 10 years.

I hope we achieve (our) nuclear medicine goal, radio isotopes, and export them. We are also designing a reactor similar to the Tehran reactor,” Khabar Online quoted head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi as saying in an interview on Wednesday.

“Our initiative for constructing enrichment plants is a long-term project which goes beyond two or three years, although we potentially need ten enrichment plants,” said the official.

Iran is also considering medium-term and long-term plans for the construction of new nuclear power stations in order to meet the country’s increasing electricity needs, he noted, adding that the country will posses a second nuclear power station by 2020.

Salehi told the news website that Iran needed 20 powerhouses similar to the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

He said the organization would primarily focus on the exploration and extraction of uranium, but will also increase related activities.