Bushehr nuclear plant ranks among world’s top 10 facilities for third straight year: AEOI
Iran’s only nuclear power plant has been ranked among the world’s top 10 facilities for the third consecutive year, receiving a perfect score of 100 out of 100 for safety and efficiency, according to the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami.
The assessment was conducted by inspectors and specialists from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) following visits to various nuclear plants around the world, Eslami said, according to Press TV on Monday.
He said the ranking was not self-declared but was based on an on-site evaluation of the plant’s processes, environment, personnel and operations.
The Bushehr nuclear power plant plays a key role in supplying the country’s electricity. The facility has a net generating capacity of 915 megawatts and produces approximately six to seven terawatt-hours of electricity annually, according to official figures.
The plant’s first unit was built with Russian cooperation and was designed to generate 1,000 megawatts of electricity. So far, it has produced a cumulative 80 million megawatt-hours of nuclear-generated electricity that has been injected into Iran’s national power grid.
According to Tasnim news agency, the Bushehr nuclear power plant has a capacity of 1,020 megawatts and accounts for 1% of Iran’s total electricity generation capacity.
In total, thermal power plants — including combined-cycle, simple-cycle gas and steam facilities — with an installed capacity of 78,617 megawatts account for 78.4% of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity. Their share of Iran’s actual electricity production is around 90%. Hydropower plants, with an installed capacity of 12,131 megawatts, account for 12.1% of the country’s electricity generation capacity. Distributed generation facilities, with a capacity of 2,923 megawatts, represent 2.9%; small hydropower plants, with 113.8 megawatts, account for 0.1%; renewable energy plants, with an installed capacity of 5,101 megawatts, make up 5.1%; and diesel power plants, with a capacity of 408 megawatts, account for 0.4% of the country’s electricity generation capacity.