Islamic Iran Bushehr plant to go on stream Monday

Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has announced that the country’s Bushehr nuclear plant will go on stream during a ceremony next week.

Ali Akbar Salehi told IRNA on Tuesday that the ceremony, to be attended by the Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, is scheduled to take place on the coming Monday at Bushehr power plant.

The Iranian foreign minister said that in the world of Islam and among 57 Muslim nations, the Islamic Republic is the second country, after Pakistan, to develop a nuclear power plant.

Salehi stated, however, that capacity-wise, Iran is among the first top countries possessing nuclear power plants in the world of Islam.

“The two nuclear power plants of Pakistan combined supply 500 megawatts, while [Iran’s] Bushehr nuclear plant has a 1000-megawatt capacity,” he pointed out.

The foreign minister also touched upon the experience that Iran has attained in putting the plant into operation, saying, “Iranian engineers have had the opportunity to pick up both the Western and Eastern technologies.”

The top Iranian diplomat further underscored Iran’s self-sufficiency in nuclear technology and in different fields such as medical, industrial and agricultural usage.

Iran signed a deal with Russia in 1995, under which the plant was originally scheduled to be completed in 1999, but the completion of the project was repeatedly delayed. The nuclear power plant was finally finished with the help of Russia after three decades.

On August 17, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi announced a plan for the official inauguration of Bushehr nuclear power plant with full capacity of 1,000 megawatts in late November or early December.