A senior official said the leak has delayed the fueling of the 1,000
megawatt facility at Bushehr. The leak was said to have been found in a pool
near the reactor.
This marked the first time Iran has explained the latest delay of
Bushehr, meant to begin on Sept. 2. Salehi denied reports that Bushehr was
plagued by the Stuxnet computer virus, which the Foreign Ministry termed a
Western plot.
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Western analysts said the leak at Bushehr appeared more serious than
presented by Iran. They said the pool that was leaking was probably meant to
receive spent fuel rods.
"This leak caused the activities to be delayed for several days,"
Iranian Atomic Energy Organization director Ali Akhbar Salehi said.
In a statement on Oct. 4, Salehi said the leak at Bushehr had been
fixed. The Iranian nuclear chief, however, did not say when reactor
operations would begin.
"The leak has been fixed and the core of the reactor is working
properly." Salehi said.
The statement made no reference to the Stuxnet computer virus that earlier struck the Bushehr reactor.