Iran is officially launching the Bushehr nuclear power plant, IRNA reports.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Organization
for Nuclear Energy Firuddin Abbasi-Davani, Energy Minister Madzhid
Namju, Russian Energy Minister Sergey Shmatko and head of the Rosatom
State Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko are at the opening.
The energy block of Bushehr was synchronized with the electric network
with a power of 65 MW on September 5. The total output will reach
1,000 MW.
Salehi said that the reactor is operating at 35-40% of power. It will
operate at full power in 2-3 months.
Bushehr is the first nuclear power plant in Iran and the Middle East.
Construction of the nuclear power plant in Bushehr was started by
Kraftwerk Union A.G. (Siemens/KWU, Germany) in 1974. Russia and Iran
signed a deal on construction of the plant on August 25, 1992, a
contract for conclusion of construction of the first block was signed
in January 1995. It is worth a billion dollars. Atomstroyexport
control of construction in 1998.
Initially, the power plant was to be launched in 1999. But
technological and financial problems forced the launch to be
postponed.
