Iran: Something wrong at Bushehr Nuclear Plant; unexplained outage creates panic [details]

The Russian-built nuclear power plant in Iran was shut down on Sunday, causing panic in the state. According to local reports, citing an official from the state electric energy company, Gholamali Rakhshanimehr, Iran's sole nuclear power plant shutdown in Bushehr began on Saturday and it would last for 3-4 days.

"It has been temporarily shutdown since yesterday for technical overhaul which will continue for a few days," Rakhshanimehr told state TV.

As a result of the shutdown, there will be power outages as it produces around 900 megawatts of electricity per day, which is less than two percent of Iran's consumption. Bushehr is fueled by uranium produced in Russia and is monitored by the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency.

What caused the shutdown?

According to local reports, Iran has blamed the country's enemies, the United States and Israel in particular. This is the first time Iran has reported an emergency shutdown. It follows a series of mysterious explosions and technical malfunctions at sites connected to Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

However, nuclear official Mahmoud Jafari in March had warned that Iran's inability to procure equipment from Russia due to the banking sanctions imposed by the US in 2018 could result in the plant's shutdown.