Iran breaks ground for two nuclear power plants

More than one year after Tehran signed an agreement with six world powers on its nuclear program, it held a groundbreaking ceremony to mark the launch of construction of two more nuclear power plants on the coasts of the Persian Gulf.

tehrantimes.com reports:

The nuclear complexes will add over 2,000 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power generating capacity in one decade, according to the Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi.

"According to the timetable envisaged, the first and second units will be constructed respectively over 108 and 126 months with the cooperation of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom),” he said while attending the site.

Rosatom already put the finishing touches to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran’s first.

The 1,000-megawatt plant, which is operating under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reached its maximum power generation capacity in August 2012.

In September 2013, Iran officially took over from Russia the first unit of its first 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plant for two years, according to Press TV.

The two units once constructed will help Iran curb greenhouse gas emissions to the equivalent of 14 million tons, what Salehi haled as "environmentally important.”  

A whopping amount of $10 billion will go into the projects, according to Salehi.