TEHRN -- Iran has attained self-sufficiency in heavy water production and has become the ninth country to develop this technology, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Deputy Director for International Affairs Mohammad Saeedi said here on Saturday.

“The implementation of the heavy water production project in Arak began in 1998, and the operational phase was initiated one and a half years ago,” explained Saeedi.

“Since the project was very complicated, many long-term tests were required to certify the 99.8 percent purity of the heavy water, which lasted for sixteen months.

“There are two routes in nuclear technology. One is uranium enrichment to the level of 3.5 up to 5 percent and using it in light water reactors, and the other is producing heavy water for utilization in research plants.

“This project has no parallel in any other country and has not been copied from any other foreign project. The technology of the heavy water plant in Arak is unique to Iran and we are ready to expand it throughout the country,” the AEOI official said.