Iran on Saturday begun loading its first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr with fuel. Tehran says the move comes in an effort to provide the country with nuclear-generated electricity. Iranian officials say it will take two to three months before the plant starts producing electricity once the uranium-packed fuel rods are moved into the reactor.
Nuclear fuel is being transferred to the Bushehr reactor under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency and senior officials from Iran and Russia. The Russian-completed plant is being launched after years of delay.
"The beginning of the first stage of the physical start-up has taken place," said Sergei Novikov, spokesman for Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
