TEHRAN, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- Iran began building a 10-megawatt research reactor at a nuclear site in the central province of Isfahan on Monday, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami attended the ceremony in Isfahan, where he told reporters that the concrete pouring for the fourth reactor at the site had started.

He said the project had gone through feasibility studies and planning in the first phase.

He added that turning part of the Isfahan site into an international center for education and research was the other project at the facility, of which the first phase became operational on Monday.

Eslami said the Isfahan site, which has three reactors, was "one of the world's atomic hubs and a successful center." He said the International Atomic Energy Agency had approved the site as a center for promoting education.

The new 10-MW reactor in Isfahan is a multipurpose open pool reactor that uses light water for cooling and moderation, the official IRNA news agency reported. The reactor, which will use 20 percent uranium-aluminum oxide as fuel, is for research purposes, according to the report.

Eslami also inaugurated a semi-industrial unit at the site for producing tellurium hexafluoride, the AEOI's website said.

He said the unit, which was completed in a year, was part of the country's production chain of radiopharmaceuticals. He said producing hexafluoride gas for any isotope was an important part of the process.

The Nuclear Technology-Research Center of Isfahan is Iran's largest atomic scientific center. Enditem

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