SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant has been temporarily shutdown for technical overhaul, an official said on Sunday.
“It has been temporarily shutdown since Yesterday for overhaul which will continue for a few days,” Reuters quoted the official as saying.
The Associated Press cited Gholamali Rakhshanimehr, an official from the state electric company Tavanir, as saying the shutdown would last for three to four days.
This is the first time Iran has reported emergency shutdown of the plant in the southern port city of Bushehr.
It went online in 2011 with help from Russia. Iran is required to send spent fuel rods from the reactor back to Russia as a nuclear nonproliferation measure.
In March, nuclear official Mahmoud Jafari said the plant could stop working since Iran cannot procure parts and equipment for it from Russia due to banking sanctions imposed by the U.S. in 2018, according to AP.
Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA acknowledged being aware of reports about the plant, but declined to comment.
