Iran to put the Bushehr into operation after August 21

Iranian authorities have said that the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant will be put into operation after August 21. Russian nuclear fuel will be supplied to the Bushehr, InterRight reported, and this information was confirmed by Russian sources linked to Rosatom Corporation.

Beyond dispute, the Bushehr’s opening will sharpen the situation around Iranian nuclear program as the United States and the EU are consider the plant as a way towards Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.

Early this year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton demanded to bring to a stop the plant’s construction works up to the time when Iran guarantees that will not produce nuclear weapons. However, Tehran has been denying all charges of nuclear-related military goals, and has been stressing the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

The construction of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant started in 1975 when the German Kraftwerk Union AG, a joint venture of Siemens AG and AEG Telefunken, signed a contract worth US$4–6 billion to build the pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant.

On January 8 1995, Iran signed a contract with Russian Atomstroiexport to resume work on the partially-complete Bushehr plant. In December of 2007 Russia started delivering nuclear fuel to the Bushehr. The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled to be fully put into operation in 2011-2012s.