Iran plans more powerful nuclear reactor
Iran's nuclear chief claims his country is designing a more powerful nuclear reactor.
Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, looks on while attending a news conference in Tehran September 29, 2009. Iran's nuclear chief claims his country is designing a more powerful nuclear reactor.
Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
TEHRAN, Iran
Iran's nuclear chief says his country is designing a new atomic research reactor in another snub of international efforts to curb the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions.
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State TV's website quotes Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi as saying Wednesday the new reactor will be more powerful than the aging, 5-megawatt U.S.-made research reactor operating in Tehran that is used to make radioactive isotopes for medical purposes. He says Iran eventually plans to build four such reactors.
Iran's first energy-producing reactor is scheduled to begin operations this summer.
Last week, the U.N. imposed sanctions over Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to fuel nuclear power plants or make nuclear weapons.
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