Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 14
By Fatih Karimov – Trend:
Iran has announced that the core of the Arak heavy water plant was removed and the hole, where the core was located, is being cemented.
“Iran started removing the reactor’s core yesterday [Jan. 13] and has finished the operation," Spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi said Jan. 14, Iran’s state television channel IRINN reported.
Kamalvandi added that the International Atomic Energy Agency will hold an investigation in the Arak heavy water plant today.
He also told IRINN that there are several measures remaining and they would be carried out during one to two days, and then everything will be ready for implementation of nuclear agreement.
Earlier, Iran announced that the implementation of nuclear agreement will start by Sunday.
Removing the core of the heavy water reactor to produce less plutonium is a crucial step before relief from economic sanctions agreed under the deal can start.
Under the terms of the deal, Iran accepted the Arak heavy water reactor to be reconfigured so it cannot yield fissile plutonium usable for a nuclear bomb creation.
China, the United States, France, Britain, Russia and Germany have agreed to participate in redesigning and construction of the modernized reactor.
The Islamic Republic has said that the 40-megawatt heavy-water plant is aimed at producing isotopes for cancer treatment and other medical purposes, and has denied that any of its nuclear activity is geared at developing weapons.
The removal of core of Arak reactor will be one of the final steps that Iran must take for implementation of the nuclear deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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