Iran plans to work on the discovery and extraction of uranium, ISNA news agency said on Wednesday citing the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Akbar Salehi.
"After the Bushehr Power Plant, exploration and exploitation of uranium is on the agenda," Salehi said. "This issue is going on well," he continued.
"We are now working on the discovery and extraction of uranium and the project is advancing," he said.
The project is expected to be completed in 7-8 years, Salehi said. "Iranian scientists' findings have been promising so far," he added.
Last Saturday, Iran saw the physical startup of the first power generating unit of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant.
The construction of Iran's first nuclear plant was begun in 1975 by several German construction companies. They pulled out following a U.S. embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the subsequent U.S. Embassy siege in Tehran.
Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete construction in February 1998.
Tehran submitted in July a letter to IAEA Director General Yukio Amano, which expressed Iran's readiness to hold technical discussions on the supply of 20%-enriched fuel to Iran for use in its Tehran scientific research reactor. RIA Novosti
