TEHRAN, Aug. 31 (MNA) – AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said China is ready to help Iran with the construction of large atomic power plants and even offer financing in this respect.

Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi in a radio interview on Sunday touched upon the objectives of the AEOI head Ali Akbar Salehi’s recent visit to China, saying “there are heavy water reactors in China and the two sides discussed it in length. They also held talks on common grounds for the construction of power plants as well as other bilateral issues in this respect.”

The AEOI official noted that Iran has decided to redesign Arak reactor to ease the baseless and unfounded concerns of western counties, adding “of course the reactor will continue to be heavy water but we have accepted to redesign it so that the amount of plutonium is minimized.”

Kamalvandi highlighted the Chinese’ good experiences with such reactors saying “during the visit to China, these reactors were visited and it was stressed that China can have good cooperation with Iran in this regard so that the redesigning of Arak reactor would be completed more quickly.”

The Iranian official further added that the two sides have agreed to participate in the joint production of small reactors in Iran.

“If we wish to obtain the technology to build power plants we need to have closer cooperation with the countries that have good experiences in this area. We have good relations with Russia; they have built a secure power plant in Bushehr and have signed an agreement to built two more plants in the near future,” said Kamalvandi.

The AEOI spokesman further added that at least 12 power plants must be constructed in the country in 14 or 15 years; “we may also use the help from European countries to reach this end until we have become self-sufficient in constructing our own power plants in the future.”

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi visited Beijing on August 26 and held talks with Xu Dazhe, the head of China’s Atomic Energy Authority on the construction of new nuclear plants by China in Iran. They also agreed that the construction of such plants alongside 1000-megawatt power plants can cover Iran’s need for nuclear electricity.

By Mehr News Agency