Iran Finishes Reloading Bushehr Plant, Power in July

Iran has finished reloading fuel into its first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr, with expectations it will start producing electricity in July, local media reported on Tuesday.

The fuel rods were cleaned, reloaded “and final tests are under way,” Gholamali Miglinejad, a member of parliament from Bushehr, was quoted as saying in the government newspaper Irandaily.

Iran’s Fars News Agency reported that the Bushehr plant should produce electricity “in two months time” when it is connected to national grid.

Russia’s Atomstroyexport agency, which oversaw the construction of Bushehr plant’s construction, said in early April that the refueling operation began after the plant had been re-checked and its various pieces “washed through.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, who previously headed the Islamic republic’s atomic body, had at the time said he hoped the Bushehr plant could start operating again “between May 5 and 10.”