Russia's nuclear chief says Iran NPP to be launched in Nov. 2007

RIA Novosti:

Russia's nuclear chief said Monday a nuclear power plant under construction in southern Iran will be launched in November 2007.

Russia is helping Iran build the plant at Bushehr, 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of the capital, Tehran. The Bushehr NPP, which is being built under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was previously scheduled to become operational by the end of 2006.

"The Bushehr nuclear power plant will be commissioned in September 2007, and the power generating launch will take place in November 2007," Sergei Kiriyenko told journalists on the sidelines of the 50th IAEA General Conference in Vienna. READ MORE

He added he would hold a meeting September 25 in Moscow with Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and the country's vice president.

"We will discuss issues related to the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant at a meeting with Iran's vice president," he said.

Russia's nuclear power equipment and service export monopoly, Atomstroiexport, is building Bushehr's first power unit under a $1 billion contract signed by Russia and Iran in 1995. A supplemental agreement signed in 1998 stipulates that Atomstroiexport complete construction of the plant on a turnkey arrangement.