Iran's nuclear power plant in the southern Gulf port of Bushehr is to become partly operational after March 21, Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday, cited by Iran’s official news agency (IRNA).
The plant is to come on stream following work by Iranian and Russian experts on the complex in Bushehr.
Once operational, said the agency, the plant will be capable of generating some 1000 megawatts of nuclear power during the first phase. Both Iran's President Mohammad Khatami and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin had stressed completion of the plant.
Construction of the plant is being carried out in accordance with a plan which Russia signed in September 1998, committing itself to finish the project over a 52-month span.
Khatami is scheduled to visit Moscow where he is expected to sign several trade and defense contracts.
In 1985, Russia and Iran signed an initial $850 million agreement to complete the reactor by 2003, but the work did not begin until February 1998. In November 1998, Russia and Iran announced they were studying the possibility of building three more nuclear reactors at Bushehr.
The US has pressured Ukraine not to provide the turbines for the reactors. In January, Russia shrugged off US objections and said work had started to build a second reactor.
The United States has warned that civilian nuclear projects could help Iran develop the ability to produce nuclear weapons.
According to The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency has said it has not detected any suspicious nuclear activities in Iran. It has given Iran $1.6 million from its technical assistance fund to complete the Bushehr plant.
The project was initially considered for completion by the German Siemens Company. But the company pulled out of its commitments after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and after sanctions were imposed on the Islamic Republic.
The German side is suing Iran before an international tribunal on claims the Islamic Republic failed to live up to its commitments.
Iran, in return, filed a countercharge against Germany to compensate it for losses that it says it has incurred as the result of the breach of the agreement by Siemens.
The figure, representing opposing claims by Iran and Germany, is estimated at over one billion dollars – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
