Iran’s official Irna news agency said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed a new chief for the country’s nuclear programme.

IRANIAN and Russian technicians are conducting a test run of Iran’s first nuclear power plant, officials said yesterday, a big step toward launching full operations at the facility, which has long concerned the US and its allies.

Iran today announced it was testing its first nuclear power station, adding to fears over its long-term atomic ambitions.

Iran has produced nuclear fuel pellets for its 40-megawatt heavy water nuclear reactor, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said today, a technological advancement in the cycle of nuclear fuel, according to the state news agency.