Nuclear power plant shutdown in Iran for“technical overhaul”

Iran’s sole nuclear power plant has undergone an unexplained temporary emergency shutdown. An official from state electric company Tavanir said that the Bushehr plant shutdown began on Saturday and will last for three to four days. Without elaborating, the official said that power outages could result. This is the first time Iran has reported an emergency shutdown of the plant, located in the southern port city of Bushehr. It went online in 2011 with help from Russia. Reason of shutdown is said to be a “technical overhaul.” In March this year, nuclear official Mahmoud Jafari said the plant could stop working since Iran cannot procure parts and equipment for it from Russia due to banking sanctions imposed by the US in 2018.

Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia and it is monitored by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency. Abas Aslani, a senior researcher at the Tehran-based Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, said  that the shutdown could be a blow to an Iranian power supply. “This [shutdown] is more important in terms of the power outage, than the nuclear aspect of the facility,” Aslani said and added that “Because these days we are seeing the cryptocurrency mining is consuming electricity in the country and this has caused some power outages in the past.”