Iran invites Gulf States to develop jointly nuclear plants

Nicosia, Dec.2 : Gholamreza Agazadeh, the Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, speaking at a conference in Tehran on Sunday proposed developing light-water nuclear plants jointly with neighboring Gulf Cooperation Council states.

" Iran is ready to provide very soon a comprehensive plan for the proposal, if it were approved in principle by the Persian Gulf littoral states," Agazadeh said in the course of an international seminar on nuclear plants and environmental issues.

He also suggested that the countries in the region put on their agenda the creation of a consortium to develop and build such plants. However, he did not give further details about the proposal or about its feasibility.

Despite relatively mild UN Security Council sanctions, because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, Iran is expected to complete next year its first nuclear power plant at Bushehr. The plant, which is being constructed with the help of Russian experts, is expected to cost of about a billion dollars.

The Islamic Republic is also building a heavy water research reactor in Arak, in central Iran.

ANI