英语文摘:Earthquake has no effect on Iran's nuclear power plant: official

TEHRAN, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Executive manager of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, Mahmoud Jafari, said Wednesday that the structure of Bushehr nuclear power plant is strong enough to resist earthquakes at the scale of 8 Richter, official IRNA news agency reported.

Talking to reporters in the quake-hit region of Iran's southern Bushehr province, Jafari said that Tuesday's quake had "no effect on the power plant at all."

He described the daily activities in the plant as normal and stressed that things are going as scheduled.

On Tuesday, an Iranian lawmaker said that the 6.1-magnitude earthquake on the Richter scale in Bushehr province did not affect the operation at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

The plant is located about 80 km away from the epicenter of the quake and, according to the latest information, no damage in the plant has been reported, Abdolkarim Jamiri, representative of Bushehr province in Iran's parliament, told state-run IRINN TV.

Construction of Bushehr nuclear power plant was started in 1975 by several German companies. However, the work halted when the United States imposed an embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran after the 1979 revolution. Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the construction in 1998.

According to the latest reports, at least 37 people died and 850 others were injured in the quake in Kaki city of Iran's southern Bushehr province on Tuesday afternoon.

Subsequently, 27 aftershocks hit Kaki and the surrounding region, according to Iran's Seismological Center.