Russia: Bushehr plant to come on stream in 2010

The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation (Rosatom) says Iran’s first nuclear power plant in the southern city of Bushehr will go into service by the end of 2010.

“All the work is going as scheduled. The tests are a success. This year will be the year of the launch of Bushehr,” AFP quoted the General-Director of Rosatom Sergei Kiriyenko as saying on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi said that the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be operational by late September.

He added that experts are conducting important and final tests and that there will be no delays on the part of the Russians in launching the plant.

Western corporations began the construction of the Bushehr facility in the 1970s. However, following the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the Western companies reneged on their commitments and pulled out of the project due to political pressure from Washington.

Iran then turned to Russia to complete the project. In 1992, Tehran and Moscow signed a deal to complete the construction of the nuclear power plant.

The Bushehr plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but its launch has been repeatedly delayed.