A power distribution incident took place at the Iranian Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Nuclear facility in Natanz, local agency Fars reported, citing the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). The organization’s spokesman, Behruz Kamalwandi said that the incident had not caused any injuries to staff and had not resulted in pollution. An investigation into the accident is underway, he said.
“On Sunday morning, there was an accident in part of the electricity distribution network at the enrichment plant in Natanz. According to our information, fortunately, this incident did not cause pollution and harm to humans,” Kamalvandi said.
The Natanz site is associated with the uranium enrichment program of Iran. Iran said on April 10 that President Hassan Rouhani had ordered to begin injecting gas to a new generation of centrifuges at the Natanz enrichment facility. Iran also said that it began the mechanical testing of IR-9 centrifuges and launched an assembly line for its new generation of centrifuges. In Natanz, the order was given to feed gas to 164 all-Iranian IR6 centrifuges, with 10 SWU – separative work units that indicate the amount of separation done by an enrichment process.
The Shahid Ahmadi Roshan Nuclear facility in Natanz was in the news previously too. On 2 July 2020, Iran had announced an incident affected a shed under construction at the Natanz complex, but it caused no casualties and failed to stop the enrichment work at the facility. On September 2020, the Head of AEOI, Ali Akbar Salehi said the explosion at Shahid Ahmadi Roshan (Natanz) Nuclear Facility was the result of sabotage.