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Earthquake danger to Iran’s nuclear plant

Iran is one of the most seismic countries in the word. The Islamic Republic experiences at least one slight earthquake every day and even moderate earthquakes have killed thousands of people in more remote areas. Iran is surrounded by tectonically active zones and has experienced several heavy earthquakes in the recent years striking all sides of the country…..Surprisingly little attention is paid by scholars and the media to how earthquakes could possibly affect Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Earthquakes: Iran not Safe for Nuclear Energy, Global Arab Network |Gerlinde Gerber, 4 April 11, “………As the world anxiously looks to the nuclear reactors in Japan, with a broken down cooling system following an earthquake and tsunami, the dangers and vulnerabilities of nuclear energy production once again come to mind. A country, which is equally prone to earthquakes like Japan, is Iran…….
The Iranian nuclear program presents dangers not only because of the regional strategic changes that would occur once Iran is in possession of nuclear weapons, particularly as it acts in defiance of the international community and IAEA rules and regulations, and because it would likely trigger a nuclear arms race in the region, but also because of the threat that earthquakes, technological malfunctions and human errors could pose to the Iranian people and Iran’s neighbors.

Earthquakes:

Iran is one of the most seismic countries in the word. The Islamic Republic experiences at least one slight earthquake every day and even moderate earthquakes have killed thousands of people in more remote areas. Iran is surrounded by tectonically active zones and has experienced several heavy earthquakes in the recent years striking all sides of the country. Probably the most well known earthquake happened in Bam in December 2003 killing approximately thirty thousand people. A 6.5 magnitude earthquake hit Iran as recently as December 2010.
Surprisingly little attention is paid by scholars and the media to how earthquakes could possibly affect Iran’s nuclear facilities. Iranian officials were quoted in articles proposing the relocation of the entire city of Tehran to a different area because it is built on a seismological unstable area. However, there was no mentioning about the safety of a nuclear research plant next to the city……
Global Arab Network | Earthquakes: Iran not Safe for Nuclear Energy | Science & Health

April 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, safety