Iranian nuclear reactor hit by ‘malfunction’

MOSCOW: Iran’s Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant has suffered a malfunction in its main generator, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Moscow said yesterday.
Mahmoud Reza Sadjadi did not specify the nature of the malfunction or make clear whether it has caused the plant’s shutdown, Russia’s state Itar-TASS news agency reported.
But he stressed that this fault was not caused by the series of earthquakes that shook Iran in recent weeks. “In close cooperation, our and Russian specialists are undertaking efforts to fix the malfunction,” Sadjadi was quoted as saying.
He added that the fault “was linked to the work of the generator” and had occurred some time ago, but provided no other details.
Bushehr is Iran’s only nuclear power plant and is located on the Gulf in the southern section of the country.
The plant was officially opened in September 2011. Its initial construction was begun by Germany in the 1975 before being dropped because of Iran’s revolution.