Arak reactor to become operational in 3 to 4 years: AEOI spokesman

EghtesadOnline: The work on redesigning Arak reactor is being carried out according to the plans and the reactor will be inaugurated in the next three to four years, spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi announced.

News ID: ۷۴۱۸۶۰

31 May 2017

“We also seriously try to increase our yellow cake reserves,” Kamalvandi told reporters on the sidelines of the cabinet session held on Wednesday, according to IRNA.

According to the mechanisms predicted for redesigning the Arak reactor, Iran is the manager of the project and China and US will cooperate with Iran, Kamalvandi noted.

Referring to the talks held with China and US on redesigning the Arak reactor within the framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the AEOI official said that “the important point was the deal we had to make with the Chinese side.”

Signing the deal took a lot of time, but it was finalized and Iran was satisfied with it. 'We didn’t lag behind the plan even for a day, ” said Kamalvandi.

Pointing to he negotiations with Kazakhstan about buying yellow cake, the official said Iran plans to seriously follow up providing yellow cake, adding Kazakhstan is the main provider of uranium.

Kazakhstan has no problem for supplying the yellow cake to Iran, but it awaits finalization of the process which was delayed after the Nov 8 presidential election in the US.

He further stressed that Iran’s Foreign Ministry is pursuing the issue.