Iran says it aims to build a 5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Aug. 15, 2003
TEHRAN, Iran
Iran's second nuclear reactor will have a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and the state is beginning feasibility studies for a 5,000-megawatt reactor, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Thursday.
First Vice President Mohamad Reza Aref authorized Iran's Atomic Energy Organization to sign contracts for the construction of a second reactor at the Bushehr nuclear power site with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts, IRNA reported.
State television said Wednesday that plans for a second reactor had been approved, but it did not report the size of the plant.
Iran is building with Russian assistance its first nuclear reactor at Bushehr, on the shore of the Gulf. It has a capacity of 1,000 megawatts and should be completed next year.
The United States suspects Iran of developing a clandestine nuclear weapons program. It has lobbied for the International Atomic Energy Agency to declare the country in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran denies ambitions to make nuclear weapons and says it seeks nuclear power as an alternative source of energy as its oil reserves diminish.
At its meeting Thursday, the Supreme Nuclear Council also commissioned the Atomic Energy Organization to prepare studies for building a 5,000-megawatt nuclear plant, IRNA reported.
Iran aims to generate 7,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear fuel by 2021.
The IAEA, a U.N. watchdog, has been pressing Iran to allow unfettered access to its nuclear sites. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei is to present a report on Iran next month.
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