Iran: Nuke plant to be running for Feb. 1

TEHRAN, Jan. 8 (UPI) -- Iran's first nuclear plant will be at full production in time for the revolutionary anniversary on Feb. 1, the country's atomic chief announced in Tehran.

Speaking at a nuclear industry achievements show, Fereydoun Abbasi said the Bushehr nuclear power plant, south of the capital, was on track to be generating 1,000 megawatts of electricity by Feb. 1, the IRNA news agency reported.

Abbasi is the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

He said the date would coincide with the beginning of 10 days of celebration commemorating the overthrow of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in 1979.

Iran's nuclear development has been a source of international concern for years. The United Nations Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran for refusing to abandon uranium enrichment amid fears the goal was to create nuclear weapons.

The European Union and United States also imposed their own sanctions.

Meanwhile, Iran has maintained the facility and technology are meant only to produce electricity and medical isotopes.