Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is the first and only nuclear power plant in Iran and the Middle East in general, which is located near the city of Bushehr. The construction of the facility caused a number of claims against Iran from other states, but at the moment the nuclear power plant project has been successfully completed, and the power plant itself has been put into operation.
History of Creation
The foundation of the future nuclear power plant was laid in 1975, but after a while the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant was frozen. Only forty-six years later did it continue.
The construction agreement was signed between Iran and Germany by one of the divisions of the Siemens Corporation. However, after the imposition of sanctions against Iran by the US authorities, West Germany fully supported its allies and quickly curtailed all work begun on the construction of the station.
After the signing of an agreement on cooperation and the use of nuclear power plants for peaceful purposes between the Russian Federation and Iran in 1992, Russian specialists took up the construction work. Iranian contractors supportedRussian scientists and highly qualified installation professionals made it possible to prepare the station for launch as early as 2007. At the same time, a new agreement was signed between the two countries, this time on the long-term supply of fuel for nuclear power plants from Novosibirsk. However, due to economic and political problems, the launch of the Bushehr nuclear power plant was postponed again.
Finally, in 2009, the necessary amount of fuel was delivered and loaded to the nuclear power plant, and the reactor began to be checked for safe operation.
Start Bushehr NPP
After countless checks at the end of the summer of 2012, the final stage of putting the nuclear power plant into operation has come. Then the reactor was brought to 100% of the capacity approved by the project. But at the beginning of the work of the station, there were some failures:
- three months after the launch, the operation of the nuclear power plant was suspended due to the ingress of pump parts into the reactor;
- an accident in February 2013 shut down the reactor due to a turbine generator failure, but by June the Bushehr NPP was back in operation.
NPP Meaning
According to 2006 statistics, Iran consumed a fairly large amount of electricity - 136.2 billion kWh, while producing about 170 billion kWh.
Most of the electricity production in Iran (93%) was carried out by thermal power plants operating on oil products and gas. The remaining 7% is the share of hydroelectric power plants. There were no other ways of generating electricity (alternative) as of 2006 in the country.
Because of the lack of capacity for processing oil products, Iran has to import the missing electricity in large quantities. This problem turned out to be especially acute in 2007, when, due to a lack of capacity in the country, they even introduced a restriction on the supply of gasoline to individuals. To date, the state government has developed a program to increase electricity generation, so the commissioning of several nuclear power plants will help solve the problem of lack of power once and for all.
Defenders and opponents of NPP construction
Israel and the United States opposed the construction and launch of a nuclear reactor earlier and are still opposed to it. The main claim of the governments of these countries is that Iran is not completely honest with the world community and wants to use nuclear energy for military purposes. In particular, for the introduction of nuclear weapons in the defense sector of the state.
Suspicions arose due to the fact that Iran at the time of the start of construction was not a member of the world convention on nuclear safety. In connection with these claims, until 2000, journalists often raised the topic of a possible military operation against Iran by the forces of the United States of America.
Second unit of the power plant
During the construction of the Bushehr NPP, Russia proved to be a responsible contractor with a large number of highly qualified specialists who successfully used Western equipment purchased for the failed construction in 1975.
Market competitivenessnuclear power industry, Russia has won thanks to high economic factors, reliability and safety of technical solutions and the ability to work on credit. These are the main reasons why the Iranian government continues to work with Russia during the construction phase of the second block of the station.
November 2014 was marked by the signing of an agreement between the countries on the construction of the second stage of the reactor. According to Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization, the new reactor will allow the state to save about 11 barrels of oil per year. September 2016 was the starting point for the second NPP unit.
Today
The construction of the Bushehr-2 nuclear power plant in Iran is currently at the stage of development and approval of all necessary documentation for the project. Most recently, on September 10, 2016, construction reached a new level. It was on this day that, thanks to the cooperation of the two states, the foundation was laid for the second unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. Photos from the event have already spread all over the world. Rosatom has already committed itself to developing the current project, as well as the third block of the station. The deadline for the submission of the developed documentation for the project is the beginning of summer 2019. The cost of development will be 1.78 billion rubles.
Reactors installed on the second and third blocks of the station must meet all modern safety requirements. Therefore, the designers have developed modern high-tech installations that take into account the practical experience accumulated by world developers. According to today'sdocumentation, the project is planned to be implemented in ten years. The first launch and commissioning of the Bushehr-2 nuclear power plant should take place in the fall of 2024, and the verification and commissioning of Bushehr-3 is planned for the spring of 2026.
Important Facts
Nuclear energy today allows any country not to depend on gas and oil products. Nuclear power plants do not pollute the environment, consume fuel economically and, at the same time, have high power. The main disadvantage of any nuclear power plant is the severe consequences of accidents, even if their probability is low.
In addition, nuclear power today provides any country with reliability in the energy system, and nuclear generation is the most environmentally friendly type of electricity generation after alternative sources using wind, solar and other energy as fuel. The production of electricity using nuclear power plants is inexpensive, which allows any country to sell its products with excellent profit. In addition, power plants allow any country to save natural resources such as methane, oil and others.
As for the Bushehr AER, the foundation of the third unit should be completed by 2018, and long-term projects involve the construction of eight power units of the nuclear power plant.
