Iran builds new nuclear research reactor in Isfahan

Iran intends to start the construction of a new nuclear research reactor in the country's central Isfahan Province within a few weeks, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said on Thursday.

"We have planned that within a few weeks we will officially start the construction of a research reactor in Isfahan," ISNA news agency quoted him as saying. "This is an entirely domestic project that will close the chain of research, evaluation, testing, and production of nuclear energy in Iran," said Mohammad Eslami, who is also Vice President of Iran.

On June 25, Eslami said that Iran had begun work on building the nation’s first entirely Iranian nuclear power plant with a capacity of 360 megawatts. Currently, the only functioning nuclear power plant in Iran is the Bushehr plant, built with the assistance of Russia.