Mohammad Eslami said the organisation was now in the third year of implementing a plan for 20 GW of nuclear energy capacity in the country.
During a visit to the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) by Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, Eslami said that suitable land had been identified in Golestan Province on Iran’s northern coast for units, as well as the possible return to construction of the part-built pre-1979 plant in Darkhovin in Khuzestan Province on the country's south coast.
In addition, the construction of second and third units continues at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, he said, as well as a water desalination plant alongside it. According to the AEOI the eight units in the contract includes four in total at Bushehr "and four power plants in other parts of the country, the Iranian government will subsequently announce their locations".
Eslami said: "Nuclear energy is essentially life-giving energy, and this technology is also a driving force and, by moving at the frontier of knowledge, creates a level playing field for the country."
In September Russia's Rosatom and the AEOI signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the building of small modular reactors in Iran.
In his speech, according to the AEOI, President Pezeshkian said "we have repeatedly stated that building nuclear weapons is not on our agenda" and said that peaceful nuclear activities "is all in the service of meeting the basic needs of humanity. Our intention and determination in expanding this industry is to respond to the needs of the people and improve the welfare of our country; not to produce weapons".
In June Israel and the USA launched strikes at facilities in Iran they say were part of a programme to develop nuclear weapons, which Iran denies, and at the end of September UN sanctions were reimposed on the country.
