In news- Iran’s sole nuclear power plant underwent a temporary emergency shutdown.
About the nuclear plant-
- This is the first time the plant has been shut down.
- It went online in 2011 with help from Russia.
- Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia and is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
- It is the first civilian nuclear power plant built in the Middle East.
- Several research reactors had been built earlier in the Middle East: two in Iraq, two in Israel, one in Syria and three in Iran.
- Russia transferred the operational control of the Bushehr nuclear power plant to Iran on 23 September 2013.
- The plant is located near the boundary of two tectonic plates, the Arabian plate and the Eurasian plate.
- The plant is designed to withstand without serious damage a magnitude 8 earthquake, and survive up to magnitude 9.
- Iran is with Israel one of the two countries in the world with significant nuclear activities not to ratify the 1994 Convention on Nuclear Safety, a system of peer review and mutual oversight.
Source: The Hindu
