Iran is able to provide itself with nuclear fuel without Russia, the official representative of the Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic (OAEI) Behrouz Kamalvandi.
At the end of April, a fresh batch of nuclear fuel was delivered from Russia to the site of the Bushehr NPP, which is necessary for the further successful operation of the reactor.
"Our fuel comes to us without any problems from Russia every time it is necessary. If the fuel runs out, in the future we will be able to produce it without relying on any other country," Kamalvandi was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.
He also touched on the reconfiguration of the Arak reactor, which is being handled by the UK and China (the reactor must be re-equipped so that it cannot be used for developing weapons-grade plutonium), saying that US sanctions and the situation with the implementation of the nuclear deal affected the process: it goes quietly, but it goes.
"We are dissatisfied with the speed of work, they could go both faster and better," he said.
Earlier, US Secretary of state Mike Pompeo said that the US was ending all the sanctions for the Iranian peaceful atom, except for the 1st power unit of the Bushehr NPP, for which the exceptions are extended for 90 days. This is one of the final cuts imposed on Iran in compliance with the nuclear deal in 2015.
US Deputy Secretary of state for nonproliferation Christopher Ford, in turn, said that Washington was currently satisfied with the operation of the nuclear reactor in the Iranian Bushehr, but would assess the feasibility of extending the exceptions for it from the sanctions every 90 days.
In addition, he said, the United States is interested in maintaining the fuel supply chain for it with subsequent export to "ensure that Iran has no reason to talk about the need for enrichment for Bushehr and there is no possibility to use spent fuel for the purpose of separating plutonium from it."
The construction of power units at the Bushehr NPP is considered the largest Russian-Iranian project. Earlier, the Director-General of the Nuclear State Corporation Alexey Likhachev told "Russia 24" TV channel that Rosatom's construction of nuclear power plants abroad was on the schedule against the background of the situation with the coronavirus.
The contract for the construction of the second and third power units of the Bushehr NPP on a turnkey basis was signed by Russia and Iran in November 2014.
Units 2 and 3 will be equipped with Russian VVER-1000 reactor units that meet the highest safety requirements. The total capacity of the two new units is 2.1 thousand MW. The Bushehr-2 project is expected to take 10 years to complete.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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