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Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) announced that Iran will be the fourth stable isotope producer in the world.

IAEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi made the remark while commenting on the cooperation deals signed with Russia.

“Iran signed two cooperation deals with Russia, one on stable isotope and the other on the roadmap for producing fuel,” Irna quoted Kamalvandi as saying.

Noting that the agreement on stable isotope production will be implemented in Fordo site, the official said that the material has industrial and medical applications and is currently being produced in three points in the world, including Russia, the U.S. and Europe’s Urenco.

An isotope is an atom whose nuclei contain the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Isotopes are broken into two specific types: stable and unstable. These unstable isotopes are commonly referred to as radioactive isotopes.

There are approximately 300 known naturally occurring stable isotopes.

He went on to say that the road map for producing nuclear fuel is important for Iran, as all the activities related to enriching uranium in Iran are aimed to give the country a nuclear fuel cycle

“We gained the capacity to produce the 20% enriched fuel needed for Arak reactor but the fuel needed for nuclear power plants is different and has got its own complexities with which Russians are experienced well,” he said.

The Bushehr Power Plant is continuing its operations, he said, noting that two other power plants are scheduled to be built in cooperation with Russia and primary payment to the tune of 185 million euros has earlier been made.

The Bushehr project was launched in 1975 under the shah’s government, but it ground to a halt after the Islamic revolution of 1979 because German manufacturers withdrew. Russia’s nuclear construction company Atomstroyexport took over the project in the 1990s.

Russia and Iran signed a contract for the expansion of Bushehr in 2014, a year after Russian specialists commissioned the plant’s first reactor. The contract includes an option for six more reactors, which could be built at other sites sometime in the future.

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