Iranian Top Official Confirms IAEA Inspectors' Access To Bushehr NPP

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1.​ Two inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have visited Iran with the approval of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said Mohammad Eslami, Iran's Vice President and head of the Atomic Energy Organization, Trend reports.

During a discourse with Iranian media in China, Eslami articulated that the IAEA evaluators meticulously scrutinized the procedural dynamics of fuel substitution at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (NPP).

Eslami indicated that dialogues between Iran and the IAEA are currently in progress. To date, two iterations of diplomatic engagements have transpired between the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Atomic Energy Agency, with a forthcoming session on the agenda.

The vice president underscored that Iran articulates discontent regarding the IAEA's operational autonomy, asserting a lack of strategic alignment in its actions.

Commenting on the“Snapback” mechanism triggered by European countries in response to the reinstatement of United Nations Security Council resolutions against Iran, Eslami said the country had anticipated the activation of this mechanism.

On July 2, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian issued a decree on the entry into force of the law suspending cooperation with the IAEA. According to the law passed by the Iranian parliament, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency are not allowed to enter the country to conduct inspections. Entry of the agency's inspectors into the nation is contingent upon the affirmation from Iran's Supreme National Security Council regarding the assurance of the nation's peaceful nuclear endeavors and the integrity of its nuclear infrastructure.

Bushehr NPP's first unit began operations in 2011 and was officially handed over to Iranian control by a Russian nuclear company in 2013. Since then, the unit has produced electricity at a maximum capacity of 1,000 megawatt-hours and has generated over 65 billion kilowatt-hours over a ten-year span.

Construction of the second and third units began in 2017 on a 50-hectare site. Once operational, each unit is expected to generate 1,057 megawatts of electricity. Their combined contribution could save about 10 million barrels of crude oil or 1.6 billion cubic meters of gas annually, while preventing nearly seven million tons of pollutant emissions.

The generation of electrical energy at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant from 2013 through March 20, 2025, totaled 72.4 million kilowatt-hours.

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