Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant 'can resist earthquakes'

The Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran is resistant to earthquakes, Russia's foreign minister said on Tuesday, as nuclear disaster rapidly unfolded in Japan, RIA Novosti reported.

The danger zone around the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant has been extended to 30 km after a blast rocked reactor No. 2 on Tuesday morning, following similar explosions in reactors No. 1 and 3.

"[The Bushehr] project meets all safety requirements both in as far as technology and seismic stability are concerned," minister Sergei Lavrov told a meeting of the G8 foreign ministers in Paris.

Operation of the long-anticipated facility, built with Russian help last summer, has been dogged by delays, but Lavrov said the plant is under constant control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The death toll from Friday's 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan may have exceed 10,000 people, officials say.


/Trend/