Iran’s Bushehr nuke plant construction meets schedule

PanARMENIAN.Net - Sergei Kiriyenko, the head of Russia's state nuclear company Rosatom, announced that construction of Iran's first nuclear power plant in the Southern port city of Bushehr is proceeding according to schedule.

"There are no deviations from the schedule; everything is going in accordance with the dates set earlier," Kiriyenko said.

"Our position is highly tough. There is a deadline, and everything will be completed by that date," he added, noting that Rosatom has no intention of completing the project ahead of the schedule at the expense of safety, Fars News Agency.

In February, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoun Abbasi said 1,000 MW electricity generated from nuclear power plant would join the national grid in coming months.

He said 700MW nuclear power joined the national grid mid February, adding different tests would be made during the process and the country would get access to the full nuclear power after tests are conducted successfully.

500MW of Iranian nuclear power has already joined the national grid in 2011.

The initial construction of the facility began in 1975 by German companies, but the work was halted following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In 1995, Iran and Russia reached an agreement to complete the project, but power generation was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial problems.

Bushehr's plant, Iran's first nuclear power plant, operates under the full supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.