Russian experts to inspect Iran’s Bushehr nuke plant following deadly quake

Russian nuclear specialists will examine Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility following a series of massive earthquakes that killed 37 and wounded 850 in the region.

Over 700 homes were destroyed in the disaster, according to Mehr news agency.

The 6.3-magnitude quake struck near the plant but did not damage it, which is located just 11 miles southeast of the city.

"The earthquake in no way affected the normal situation at the reactor, personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm," an official with Atomstroyexport, the Russian company which built the facility, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

The governor of the province also confirmed that the plant is undamaged. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran reported that earthquake caused no damage to the facility.

"Iran has informed [the IAEA's Incident and Emergency Center] of the event, reporting that there has been no damage to the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant and no radioactive release from the installation," the agency said in a statement, according to Reuters.

A three-day mourning period has come into effect following the government’s announcement.

Meanwhile, Iran plans to build more nuclear power reactors in the quake-prone area and has identified 16 sites across the country suitable for other atomic plants.

The Bushehr site is also capable of holding six power reactors and construction of two more units of at least 1,000 megawatts will start in the "near future" there. The statement was made on Wednesday by the head of the Islamic state's Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi-Davani as quoted by the semi-official Mehr News Agency.