'Iran open to public sector investments in nuclear energy'

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran is open to public sector investments from regional countries in the field of peaceful nuclear energy, a senior official of Iran’s nuclear agency told Anadolu Agency.

Pejman Shirmardi, Deputy Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said Tehran welcomes public sector companies from countries in the region to enter the field.

"Iran's capacity in the field of nuclear medicine is improving," he said on the sidelines of the National Nuclear Technology Day.

Shirmardi noted that Iran’s atomic organization has a medical tourism plan in place.

"We are also launching a therapy project in Alborz province, where patients from other countries in the region can visit," he added.

On Sunday, Iran marked the National Nuclear Technology Day by showcasing the latest achievements in the area of nuclear energy.

On April 9, 2016, the country started enriching uranium at the industrial level for the first time. Ever since then, the day has been observed as National Nuclear Technology Day.

Shirmardi said Iran has the capacity to transfer technology to different countries in the region and use their capacity in return.

Echoing the words of senior Iranian government officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi, the AEOI official said Tehran is not looking at the non-peaceful use of nuclear energy, citing a decree by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in which he has banned the production of a nuclear bomb.

"All our activities have been, are, and will be peaceful," Shirmardi said, adding that Tehran has in recent years been subjected to "the most severe sanctions in history".

He said it was natural for Iran to invest in different areas of nuclear energy to address the country’s needs in the fields of health, agriculture, and the environment.

The AEOI unveiled a total of 77 new nuclear achievements during the National Nuclear Technology Day, including uranium silicide fuel pellets for the Tehran Research Reactor, cold plasma technology for pistachio detoxification, and cancer treatment, radionuclide terbium-161 for local tumor treatment, and stable zirconia powder for various industries.

The agency chief, Mohammad Eslami, also announced three strategic plans to generate 10,000 MW of nuclear power, expand the use of radiation technologies and build a fully-indigenous 360,000 MW power plant in Darkhovin.

Different generations of Iranian-made centrifuges were also on display during the ceremony.

The event came amid a stalemate in the Vienna nuclear talks between Iran and the US over some key sticking points. The indirect talks between the two sides have been underway since last April to salvage the 2015 accord.

*Writing by Syed Zafar Mehdi