The reactor at Bushehr
Photo: AFP
Cooperation with Russia
Photo: AFP
Iran: Bushehr reactor ready within 6 months
Iran's vice president, who arrived in Moscow to request further assistance for construction of nuclear power plant in Bushehr, says that plant will be completed within six months. Russian officials estimate it will be finished only within a year
The Iranian vice president and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Qolam Reza Aqazadeh, who arrived in Russia to ask for further assistance for the completion of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr, said on Monday that "the nuclear plant in Busher will be completed within six months."
According to the vice president, 90 percent of the plant has already been built, and there are still a few problems to work out. He said that if the Russians cannot help, the Iranians will finish the work by themselves.
Meanwhile, the head of the Russian nuclear program Sergey Kiryenko, said recently that the construction of the reactor in Busher is expected to end only within a year.
Muhammad Saidi, vice president of AEOI, who is accompanying the vice president on his trip, told the Iranian news agency "Maher" that "this trip will determine the operation date for the reactor in Bushehr." He expressed his hopes that the technical constraints will be resolved and an operative date will be decided on.
In addition to the reactor in Bushehr, Agazada said that Iran is planning to construct two more reactors for electricity production. According to him, "two reactors that will produce 100 megawatts are ready on paper, but we are waiting that the international mood will improve." The Iranian news agency INSA reported that Aqazadeh said that "Iran's good standing among the international community and its ability will help the Europeans to understand that cooperation with Iran could serve their own interests."
At the beginning of the month, a senior Russian diplomat warned that his country would stop cooperating in the construction of the Bushehr reactor if Iran expelled inspectors of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. The senior Russian diplomat said that, "I believe that the reason Iran didn't expel the inspectors yet, is because they cannot risk losing the cooperation with us." A short time later, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Levrov denied the report and said it was a "provocation."
