Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is a underground uranium-enrichment plant in Qom Province, Iran. It functions as a Uranium enrichment (deep-underground centrifuge). It is operated by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI). Current status: Operational. In service since 2011.
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id NUC-IR-FORDOW.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
Fordow (Fordo) is a uranium-enrichment plant built deep inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom, roughly 30 km north-east of the city. Its construction was revealed publicly in 2009; the hardened, ~80–90 m-deep siting was designed to survive aerial bombardment, which is why it dominates military and intelligence discussion whenever strikes on Iran are debated.
The plant operates advanced gas centrifuges and has at times enriched uranium to 20% and, later, near-60% U-235 — levels far above the ~3–5% needed for power-reactor fuel. It is under IAEA monitoring. Like Natanz, Fordow is an enrichment facility, not a power station, and generates no electricity.
Because of its depth and strategic value, Fordow is consistently among the first sites named in coverage of any Israeli or US action against Iran's nuclear programme.
Technically it is described as Uranium enrichment (deep-underground centrifuge). This facility converts its energy source into electricity for the grid; its capacity, fuel type and location determine its role in the national power mix.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
This nuclear plant generates electricity for the grid. It sits in a hot semi-arid steppe climate (Köppen BSh) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 34.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with dust abrasion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
Iran has 5 nuclear power plants in this dataset, together about 45 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 34.8847, 50.9939 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Plants like this lose energy through hot steam generators, turbines, feedwater heaters and valves. Inzonex makes removable, reusable turbine & feedwater insulation that cuts that loss by up to 96% and holds surface temperatures under 45°C, unclipping in seconds for maintenance. See the industrial-AI efficiency hub for tools and benchmarks.
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is a underground uranium-enrichment plant in Qom Province, Iran, operated by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
No — Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is a underground uranium-enrichment plant and does not generate grid electricity.
It is located near near Qom, Qom Province, at approximately 34.885, 50.994.
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is used for Uranium enrichment (deep-underground centrifuge).
Operational
Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant is operated by Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI).
