Nuclear chief: Iran to load heavy water reactor with virtual fuel

Head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Fereidoon Abbasi, said Sunday that his country will load Arak heavy water reactor with "virtual fuel" by the end of current Iranian calendar year, March 20, 2014, local media reported. Abbasi made the remarks in a ceremony, attended by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the site to install the "main upper container" of the IR-40 reactor. The installation "is considered a significant step forward in developing the project," Abbasi was quoted as saying by the state- run IRIB TV on Sunday. "We hope to push ahead with the required tests concerning the sound operation of the reactor and to start full use of it next year," he added. Iran states that the reactor will only be used for R&D, medical and industrial isotope production, however, the West suspects that the plant might also be used to reprocess the nuclear fuel into plutonium that can be used in a nuclear weapon. The world's six major countries in a joint statement on June 5 urged Iran to suspend its nuclear activities contrary to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. The joint statement made by China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States showed deep concern that Iran continues to advance its nuclear plan including installing advanced centrifuges, production of enriched uranium, and construction of the IR-40 reactor at Arak. The West accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapon under cover of civilian nuclear program, and imposed a series of sanctions aimed at crippling Iran's economy, while the latter stresses that its nuclear program is for civilian use only.