Continued Warnings from Atomic Energy Officials Regarding the Future of Bushehr Power Plant with Current Budget

As the budget bill is being reviewed in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, senior officials of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran have criticized the "meager" budget allocated to the Bushehr power plant, stating that with the current figure, "the fate of this power plant next year is uncertain." The head, deputy, and spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran are among those who have severely criticized the budget allocated to the Bushehr power plant for the year 1398 (2019). Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, criticized on Saturday, March 4, that "the Ministry of Energy buys the electricity produced by the Bushehr power plant at a low price." According to Fars News Agency, Salehi stated in his speech at an industrial conference in Tehran that the Ministry of Energy purchases each kilowatt-hour from the Bushehr power plant "for half a cent," while "the country's electricity is exported at a price of about 9 cents." This official from the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran pointed out that the electricity from Bushehr is purchased for 400 billion tomans, but the total cost of this power plant is 1200 billion tomans, saying: "Thus, we do not know where to bring the 800 billion tomans difference from next year." In another statement, Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization, also said that with the current budget figure presented, the fate of the Bushehr power plant "for next year is uncertain." On Thursday, Mohammad Ahmadian, the deputy of this organization, told the "House of the Nation" news agency that the low budget and the sharp increase in the exchange rate have made the operation of the Bushehr power plant next year "conditional." Although the statements of these atomic officials are made during the budget season and focus solely on their main demand, which is to sell twenty percent of the electricity produced by the Bushehr power plant "at export prices," such statements challenge the long-standing insistence of the Islamic Republic officials on nuclear activities. Critics of the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities in recent years have always emphasized that the existence of oil reserves, especially gas, and the scarcity of sufficient uranium resources in Iran raise doubts about the necessity of continuing the nuclear program. However, according to a resolution passed 14 years ago by the parliament, the Iranian government is obliged to launch 13 reactors with power similar to the Bushehr power plant. In recent years, after the United States and several other world powers described the Islamic Republic's nuclear program as having a military nature, lengthy negotiations took place between the two sides, ultimately leading to the signing of the nuclear agreement known as the JCPOA. However, Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA in May this year, accusing Iran of violating the spirit of the agreement and stating that this agreement did not contribute to global peace.