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Photo: AFP
Iranian nuclear plant in Bushehr (Archives)
Photo: AFP

Report: Iran earmarks $1.4 billion for nuclear plants

Iranian parliament committee approves appropriation for building new reactors, according to TV report. Word of planned funding comes as top members of UN Security Council meet in UK to consider additional sanctions on Tehran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment

Iran said Monday it has earmarked $1.4 billion for construction of nuclear power plants amid international pressure to abandon its nuclear program, state television reported.

 

Word of the planned funding came as top members of the UN Security Council were meeting in the UK Monday to consider additional sanctions on Iran for its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a key nuclear process.

 

An Iranian parliament committee, reviewing next year's budget, approved the $1.4 billion appropriation for building new reactors, 10 percent of which will go for training staff, the TV report said.

 

The decision requires approval by the majority of 290-seat parliament members and a constitutional watchdog to be a law.

 

Plans to build 20 nuclear reactors

Iran has already said it plans to build as many as 20 nuclear reactors, part of a project to generate 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear power within the next two decades.

 

But it could face delays in opening its first nuclear plant, a $1 billion project still under construction with Russian help at Bushehr. Russia said earlier this month its uranium fuel deliveries for Bushehr could fall behind schedule because of Iran's delays in payment.

 

Iran denied it had failed to make payments and raised concerns Moscow was buckling under international pressure and delaying the reactor's launch. Iran expects the Bushehr plant to begin generating electricity this year.

 

The TV report didn't say if any of the new appropriation by parliament would go toward the Bushehr plant.

 

The US and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Iran denies, saying its nuclear program is intended only to generate electricity.

 

The UN has demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can either produce fuel for a reactor or the material needed to build a nuclear warhead.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.26.07, 17:39
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