Asremrooz - Russian Contractor to Hand Over Bushehr Power Plant to Iran

Iran is to take control of its Bushehr nuclear power plant for a two-year trial period, after which the country will be in overall charge of the power plant.

TEHRAN (Asremrooz):Iran will officially take over its first nuclear power plant in the country's southern port city of Bushehr on Monday, in a special ceremony to be attended by a number of high-ranking Iranian and Russian officials.

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi had announced earlier that during the temporary hand over, the 1,000-megawatt plant must operate for two years, or 7,000 hours, adding, "for another two years it will be under Russian guarantee and a number of Russian experts will remain in place to give advice and technical assistance."

“After these two years, the power plant, which is already operated by Iranians, will be fully controlled by us,” the Iranian official added.

He also noted the plant’s final test which started two weeks ago, and during the generation capacity of the reactor should not have been below 90 percent of its nominal capacity, successfully ended on September 19.

Furthermore, Russia has agreed to provide the power plant’s fuel for 10 years, with the supply deal committing Tehran to returning the spent fuel.

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant became officially operational and was connected to Iran’s national grid in September 2011.

Iran and Russia have assured the international community that the plant is fully compliant with high-level safety standards and the IAEA safeguards.