Iran says ’small leak’ and not computer worm behind delay in activating nuclear power plant

Iran: Leak, not computer worm, behind plant delay

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s nuclear chief says that a “small leak” and not a computer worm is the cause of a delay in starting up of the country’s first nuclear power plant.

Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, says the leak in a pool near the reactor at the Bushehr plant has now been fixed.

His remarks were carried Monday by the official IRNA news agency. He didn’t provide details on the nature of the leak.

Salehi insisted on Thursday that a month’s delay in powering-up Bushehr has nothing to do with a computer worm infiltrating its reactor. He also said the plant’s systems were not affected.

At the plant’s inauguration in August, Salehi had said Bushehr would produce electricity in November.