BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 6. Iran could save 240 million barrels of crude oil by building nuclear power plants, even small-scale NPPs, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Ali Akbar Salehi said, Trend reports.
According to him, every 1,000 megawatts of electricity produced by nuclear power plants saves 10–12 million barrels of crude oil. If the country's nuclear power plants produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity, 240 million metric tons of crude oil can be saved.
Salehi added that it means Iran could export an additional 800,000 barrels of crude oil per day. However, this crude oil is currently used to produce gas, fuel oil, diesel, and other products, as well as electricity.
"Every 1,000 megawatts of electricity produced by nuclear power plants prevents the release of 7 million tons of polluting gases into the environment. If the country produces 20,000 megawatts of electricity through nuclear power plants, 140 million tons of gas can be prevented from being released into the environment," he said.
Meanwhile, it was decided last year (2023) to build a nuclear power plant with a production potential of 20,000 megawatts in Iran. In this regard, relevant companies have been established in the country. Currently, work on the construction of NPPs continues in five provinces of Iran.
To note, the only operating NPP in Iran is the 1st unit of the Bushehr NPP. The first power unit of the Bushehr NPP started operating in 2011. The operation of the unit was transferred to an Iranian company in 2013 by the Russian Atomic Company. This unit has produced a maximum of 1,000 megawatt-hours of electricity since 2013.
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