Iran's only nuclear power plant has been brought back online, its manager said early Monday, after two weeks off-grid amid a power shortage and rolling blackouts across the Islamic republic.

The Bushehr plant's shutdown was initially blamed on a "technical fault" that required repairs followed by conflicting reports that it was a regular maintenance operation.

The plant going offline came as Tehran and world powers in Vienna talks attempt to revive a hobbled 2015 agreement on Iran's nuclear programme that was torpedoed by the United States.

It returns to the grid as major cities across Iran including the capital Tehran are experiencing frequent blackouts blamed on high summertime demand exceeding production levels.

The "technical fault" that shut down the Bushehr plant "was fixed", Mahmoud Jafari, who is also deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), told ISNA news agency around midnight.

That allowed the plant to be reconnected to the national power grid and resume production.

Jafari said power generation had resumed Sunday, and urged Iranians to "help" the overburdened grid by minimising power consumption as high temperatures are forecast in the coming days.

The plant on Iran's southern coast and its 1,000-megawatt reactor were built by Russia and officially handed over in September 2013 after years of delay.

Russian and Iranian firms started work on two additional 1,000-megawatt reactors in 2016, with construction expected to take 10 years.

On June 20, the AEOI had blamed "a technical fault" for the shutdown and said it had given the energy ministry one day's notice before going offline.

It said two days later that the issue was with the plant's "power generator", without explaining further.

But Iran's foreign ministry at the time described the shutdown as "routine," saying it was carried out "once or twice each year".

- Record power consumption -

Bushehr plant chief Jafari said in late March that Iran was having a difficult time obtaining supplies to run Bushehr because of US sanctions, and warned of an imminent shutdown "if no solution is found".

Tehran is engaged in talks with world powers in Vienna to revive the 2015 nuclear deal that gave Iran international sanctions relief in exchange for limiting its nuclear programme.

But hopes for rising prosperity were dashed in 2018 when former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from the accord and reimposed punishing sanctions on Tehran.

Trump's successor Joe Biden favours rejoining the accord and his administration is indirectly involved in the Vienna talks to salvage the deal.

Bushehr going off-grid had raised concerns of worse blackouts after a string of power cuts in Iran blamed on heat, drought impacting hydro-electrical facilities, and surging electricity demand.

Iran introduced planned, rolling blackouts in May after Tehran and several other cities were hit by unannounced power cuts, sparking complaints from consumers and an apology from the energy minister.

A spokesman for Iran's electricity company on Monday apologised for unplanned cuts the night before.

Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi said record consumption of 65,900 megawatts had exceeded Iranian power plants' 55,000 MW output and a "looming heat wave" could exacerbate the situation, IRNA news agency reported.

Power cuts are not uncommon during Iran's hot summers, when air-conditioning use spikes. Adding to the problem, the country's hydropower capacity has been hit by low rainfall.

A government report in May said precipitation was down 34 percent compared to the long-term average, and warned of reduced water supplies for the year.

IAEA deputy director general to visit Iran
Vienna (AFP) July 3, 2021 - The deputy director general of the UN's nuclear watchdog will travel to Iran next week, sources said Saturday, against a backdrop of tension over curbs on the agency's inspections there.

Iran's ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi announced the visit on Twitter, adding that "the purpose of the visit is in line with routine safeguards activities in the context of the CSA," referring to one of the agreements under which the IAEA conducts its inspections.

"We are in continuous contact," he added, but there were no pre-planned talks in Tehran.

A European diplomatic source confirmed the visit and said it was principally going to be a visit to the Natanz enrichment facility "to check that inspectors have access to the cascades" of centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.

Iran had limited IAEA access to the site after an explosion on April 11, but access should be "fully" re-established in the next few days, said the same source.

Iran said the explosion had been a sabotage attempt by Israel.

Asked by AFP to confirm the trip, an IAEA spokesman said: "As part of the Agency's implementation of its safeguards activities in Iran, Deputy Director General Aparo regularly travels to Iran."

- A delicate time -

Aparo's visit will come at a delicate time after a temporary agreement covering inspections at Iranian nuclear facilities expired last week.

In late February, Iran limited the IAEA's access to nuclear sites it has been monitoring as part of Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

A three-month agreement reached on February 21 allowed some inspections to continue and that was extended by another month in May.

Under that deal, Iran pledged to keep recordings "of some activities and monitoring equipment" and hand them over to the IAEA as and when US sanctions are lifted.

On Tuesday, Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabii said Iran was "examining" whether to extend the temporary agreement.

The issue is weighing on the talks, which have been taking place in Vienna with the goal of reviving the 2015 deal.

Diplomats ended the last round of negotiations with Enrique Mora, the EU diplomat chairing the talks, saying "we are closer to a deal". But a date for reconvening has not been set.

The 2015 accord ensured some relief from UN and Western sanctions on Iran in exchange for strict curbs on its nuclear programme.

But the deal has been unravelling ever since former US President Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Tehran retaliated by disregarding most of the limits set down in the deal on its nuclear programme.

Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

IAEA deputy director general to visit Iran
Vienna (AFP) July 3, 2021
The deputy director general of the UN's nuclear watchdog will travel to Iran next week, sources said Saturday, against a backdrop of tension over curbs on the agency's inspections there. Iran's ambassador to the UN in Vienna Kazem Gharibabadi announced the visit on Twitter, adding that "the purpose of the visit is in line with routine safeguards activities in the context of the CSA," referring to one of the agreements under which the IAEA conducts its inspections. "We are in continuous contact, ... read more