Iran Needs to Have 20 Nuclear Power Plants: Spokesman

Speaking to the AEOI media center on the occasion of the Persian new year, Behrouz Kamalvandi unveiled plans to increase the share of nuclear power in Iran’s energy basket in the years to come.

He said global environmental concerns have been so common that the participants in the 2023 UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the United Arab Emirates decided that nuclear power generation should triple in the world.

“There are currently around 500 atomic power plants in the world. Based on the decisions of the conference (COP28), the number of these power plants should rise to 1,500 by 2050. Iran’s share of that number should be at least 10 to 12 power plants,” he stated.

Kamalvandi noted that considering the climate issue as well as Iran’s advantages such as its manpower, background and experience in the nuclear industry, it appears that Iran should own at least 15 to 20 nuclear power plants from the total of plants that are supposed to be constructed around the world.

Pointing to the target of generating 20,000 megawatts of nuclear electricity in Iran, the spokesman said achieving that goal requires the employment of all domestic industrial potential and attraction of both internal and foreign investment.

The participation of foreigners and their modern technologies will help Iran accelerate the construction of nuclear power plants, he added, saying Russia and China are the prime targets with which a series of negotiations have been held.

The AEOI has the necessary legal infrastructures and will work with China and Russia in accordance with the agreed-upon protocols, he stated.

During a visit to Iran’s southern coastal province of Hormozgan in February, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued an order to start the project on the construction of the nuclear power plant in Sirik.

Located on the neck of the Strait of Hormuz, the new power plant is designed to have an electricity generation capacity of 5,000 megawatts.