Iran scouting for new nuclear site

The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the country plans to identify a suitable location to build a new nuclear site there.

Ali Akbar Salehi said Saturday Iran hopes to be able to spot a new location in the country by March 2011 for the construction of another nuclear site, reported IRNA.

“However, we won’t rush into it; rather, the job should be followed up with great care and sensitivity”, added Salehi.

The AEOI chief further touched upon Tokyo’s readiness to cooperate with Tehran on construction of nuclear power plants.

“Not long before the release of the Tehran Declaration had Japan announced that it would work with Iran to build new nuclear power stations”, Salehi underscored.

“Now that the Tehran Declaration on nuclear fuel swap has been released, Japan is expected to make good on its promise”, added Salehi.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Salehi said the Bushehr nuclear power plant is undergoing the last phases of its final test dubbed the ‘warm water test’.

“The test will be complete in one week”, underlined Salehi.

“The AEOI’s top priority at the moment is to discover and extract uranium”, added Salehi.

He further said exploration operations have been carried out in almost one third of the country, and will soon be conducted in the remaining areas.

“With the plans and activities carried out, Iran will turn into a manufacturer of power plants over the next 10 to 15 years”, said Salehi.