Page 56 - IRANRptSep20

nuclear facility fire caused by sabotage says Iranian official
sabotage, the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation told state TV channel al-Alam on August 23.
“The explosion at Natanz nuclear facility was a result of sabotage operations, security authorities will reveal in due time the reason behind the blast,” said Behrouz Kamalvandi.
In July, Iran’s top security body stated that the cause of the fire had been determined but would be announced later. Iranian officials said that the fire caused significant damage that could slow the development of advanced uranium enrichment centrifuges.
The blaze was one of a number over several weeks that led to speculation on social media that Iran was possibly under attack by a network of saboteurs, but the authorities have so far dismissed that hypothesis, adding that some of the incidents were related to the hot weather.
Iran maintains that its nuclear development programme remains purely civilian in nature.
9.1.12 ​Utilities sector news
Bitcoin power consumption need not blow your brains - yet
Russia, Kazakhstan and Iran, take a bow (or perhaps bury your head in shame from the environmental perspective) for making the top 10 for Bitcoin hashing on the​ ​Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index. Those mining Bitcoin—a decentralised digital currency without a central bank or single administrator—refer to the “hashrate”. Put simply, the hashrate is a measure of the computing power people plugged into electrical grids around the world are contributing to the mining.
And​ ​here​ and below is that top 10 as calculated by a study from the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School.
Assessing just how much electricity the 11-year-old global Bitcoin mining industry—with its peer-to-peer electronic cash system—is consuming, the study settles on an annualised estimate of 7.46 GW, equivalent to around 64.83 terawatt-hours of energy consumption (slightly more than the Czech Republic, at 62.34 TWh per year, and Austria, at 64.60 TWh per year consume).
Governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) Abdolnasser Hemmati has announced that Iraq has consented to settling gas and electricity debts owed to Tehran by providing food and medicine, Mehr News Agency reported on June 18.
Newly-elected Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi reportedly told Hemmati during a meeting in Baghdad that "Iraq will cooperate with Iran to solve the
56​ IRAN Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com