Iran testing nuclear power station

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

The power plant in the southern port city of Bushehr, built with Russian help, is meant to be the first of several for an energy programme. But the opening of the 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor has long been delayed by construction and supply glitches.

The tests, which began 10 days ago, "could take between four and seven months", nuclear chief, vice president Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said.

The plant, which will run on enriched uranium imported from Russia, has worried the West because the spent fuel could be turned into plutonium, a potential material for nuclear warheads.

Concern over the reactor lessened after Iran agreed to return spent fuel to Russia to ensure Tehran does not reprocess it into plutonium.

However Iran claimed another advance in its nuclear programme today: The number of centrifuges carrying out uranium enrichment had increased to 6,000, up from 5,000 in November.

The announcement was the latest defiance of United Nations' demands that Tehran suspend its enrichment program because of fears it could be used to produce material for a warhead. Iran denies it wants to build a nuclear bomb, saying its nuclear programme aims only to generate electricity.

Enrichment is a concern because while low-enriched uranium is used as fuel for a reactor, higher-enriched uranium can be used to build a bomb. In the enrichment process, uranium gas is pumped through a series of centrifuges and spun at supersonic speeds to remove impurities.

Mr Aghazadeh announced that the 6,000 centrifuges were now operating at Iran's enrichment facility in the town of Natanz. He said Iran hopes to install over 50,000 centrifuges there over the next five years.

"We are doing what we need to do in Natanz on the basis of a specific time schedule," he said.

Iran says it intends to use the enriched uranium fuel in its first domestically made nuclear power plant which it wants to start operating in 2016.

The tests at Bushehr are a computer run of the equipment to ensure there are no malfunctions in the future when enriched uranium fuel is introduced into the reactor. No electricity is produced during the testing.

In the first stage of the test, technicians for the past 10 days have been loading a "virtual fuel" into the reactor. The virtual fuel consists of lead, which imitates the density of enriched uranium

Russia says there is no evidence that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons and has joined China in weakening Western-backed sanctions in the UN Security Council, arguing that punishing Tehran too harshly for its nuclear activities would be counterproductive.

The Security Council has passed three sets of sanctions against Iran over uranium enrichment and is considering further measures.