Iran dismisses PGCC concerns about Bushehr nuclear plant

TEHRAN,April 16(MNA) – An Iranian nuclear official dismissed as “baseless” the “commotion” created by the Persian Gulf Arab countries about the safety of Iran’s sole nuclear power plant, located in the southwestern port city of Bushehr. “If these concerns are being expressed from a technical perspective, they can be easily allayed. We have repeatedly said that we are ready to provide experts with any kind of information that is necessary through the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Deputy Director Mohammad Ahmadian told Al-Alam News Network on Sunday. His remarks came the same day that national emergency officials in the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council countries, namely the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and Kuwait, met in Riyadh to discuss the risk of radiation spreading over the Persian Gulf if the Russian-built Bushehr nuclear plant is damaged by an earthquake. The meeting came after a 6.1 magnitude quake, which struck some 90 kilometers away from the Bushehr plant on April 9, killed 37 people and injured 950 others but left the nuclear facility undamaged. The magnitude of the quake was reported to be 6.3 by the U.S. Geological Survey. According to Reuters, PGCC secretary general, Abdullatif al-Zayani, said at the start of the meeting at the Saudi Arabian capital, “The earthquake that the Iranian city of Bushehr was subject to has raised a great deal of concern among (P)GCC countries and the international community of a possible damage to the Bushehr nuclear reactor that could cause a radioactive leak, God forbid.” He added, “The (P)GCC countries have previously warned against the danger of the nuclear reactor of Bushehr and the possible nuclear leak and its harmful effect on the environment in the (Persian) Gulf,” he added. But Ahmadian dismissed the concerns, saying, “The nuclear industry is a highly sensitive industry, and all the operations and condition of nuclear facilities are supervised by various organizations. In this industry, you cannot launch an unsafe plant and hide the situation from others. The same applies to the Bushehr plant, and this can assure Iran’s neighboring countries in the Persian Gulf region that the Bushehr nuclear power plant poses no threat to them.” He added, “Over the past two years, we have unloaded (fuel from) the heart of the Bushehr and fully checked the fuel for safety considerations. Although these inspections delayed the launch of the plant for several months, we upheld the principle of safety.” Commenting on the recent earthquake that happened near the Bushehr plant, Iran’s deputy nuclear chief said, “The Bushehr atomic plant has been designed based on the most advanced and toughest international standards,” adding that the facility can withstand earthquakes of at least 8.0 on the Richter scale near the plant. “In the event that an earthquake happens, there are systems in the plant that will disconnect the plant from the grid and the reactor will shut down,” Ahmadian said.