TEHRAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2020) Behrouz Kamalvandi, a spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), said on Sunday that the country was going to produce samples of advanced centrifugal machines at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant before it was damaged by a fire, which would now slow down the production process.
On Thursday, the organization reported an incident during construction work at the Natanz facility, which wrecked one of the sheds under construction. The incident left no casualties. Experts are working in the area to determine the cause of the incident.
"The shed was to produce more samples of advanced centrifugal machines," Kamalvandi was quoted as saying by the Mehr news Agency.
The official also confirmed that the incident caused serious material and financial damage, adding that some of the equipment was completely destroyed.
At the same time, Kamalvandi noted, that Iran would rebuild and expand the facility, the construction of which started seven years ago but was never completed amid the nuclear deal hassles.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) later confirmed that there was no nuclear material at the site of the blaze. Iranian authorities have emphasized that the incident did not affect the operation of the uranium enrichment plant.
