Iran, Russia say Bushehr nuclear plant ready for launch on schedule

14 August 2011 | 16:49 Code : 15407 Latest Headlines

TEHRANTIMES – Iranian Ambassador to Moscow Reza Sajjadi and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, during a recent meeting in Moscow, discussed bilateral cooperation in regard to nuclear energy, emphasizing that the Bushehr nuclear power plant is ready for final launch at the planned time.

In late June, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Iran’s first nuclear power plant will be connected to the national grid in August.

“The reactor will reach its 40% of its power in mid Ramadan (mid August) and will be connected to the grid but the celebration of this connection will be held at the end of Ramadan,” Salehi said during a televised interview.

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) Director General Sergei Kirienko are expected to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Bushehr nuclear plant.

The power plant first was launched in August 2010 as engineers loaded 163 fuel rods into the reactor under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

On January 28, then Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Director Ali Akbar Salehi announced that the Bushehr power plant will be connected to the national grid by February 20. He also said that the plant would be able to work at full capacity by mid-April. But in February, Iran unloaded fuel from the reactor due to safety concerns.

In March, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in a telephone conversation with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said that Russia would make every effort to make the Bushehr nuclear power plant fully operational at the planned time.

Later Iran announced that Iranian engineers in cooperation with Russian experts have managed to complete the reloading of the reactor.

The plant, which is located near the port city of Bushehr on the coast of the Persian Gulf, will produce 1000 megawatts of electricity once it becomes fully operational.