TEHRAN (Dispatches) -- Tehran and Beijing are in talks over China’s construction of small nuclear power plants in Ira, an Iranian MP said here Sunday.
"Negotiations have been held on mutual cooperation and construction of small nuclear power plants in Iran by China," chairman of the Iranian parliament's Nuclear Committee Mojtaba Zonnour said.
He explained that the talks were held during a recent conference on nuclear cooperation in China. "The Chinese side welcomed the idea and it was decided that the issue be pursued at higher levels," Zonnour added.
Small nuclear reactors have various uses in different industries, including shipbuilding and construction of submarines.
In January, deputy head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Muhammad Ahmadian announced that China and Russia had voiced interest in building small nuclear reactors in Iran.
"The Chinese have worked a lot in this field and some negotiations have been held. They are interested in cooperation with Iran in this field. Also Russia has worked on small units (of nuclear reactors) for vessels and we have also announced our interest to cooperate with them in this field," Ahmadian said.
The lawmaker said Iran had studied different countries which had the technology on small reactors and were willing to cooperate with the Islamic Republic.