Iran confirms launch of first nuclear power plant

[Lankan Ranger]

Iran confirms launch of first nuclear power plant

Iran's atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Friday confirmed next week's launch of the Islamic republic's first nuclear power plant, as announced by Russia which has helped build the facility.

"We are preparing to transfer the fuel inside the plant next week... Then we will need seven to eight days to transfer it to the reactor," said Salehi.

Ending years of delays, a spokesman for the Russian atomic agency said that the plant in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr will formally launch on August 21.

"The fuel will be charged in the reactor on August 21. From this moment, Bushehr will be considered a nuclear installation," Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said. "This can be considered as the physical launch."

Read more: Iran confirms launch of first nuclear power plant - Middle East - World - The Times of India Iran confirms launch of first nuclear power plant - Middle East - World - The Times of India

 

[Hafizzz]

Russia says to start up Iran Bushehr plant August 21
Russia says to start up Iran Bushehr plant August 21 - Yahoo! Canada News

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Friday it will begin loading nuclear fuel into the reactor of Iran's first atomic power station on Aug 21, an irreversible step marking the start-up of the Bushehr plant after nearly 40 years of delays.

Russia agreed in 1995 to build the Bushehr plant on the site of a project begun in the 1970s by German firm Siemens, but delays have haunted the $1 billion project and diplomats say Moscow has used it as a lever in relations with Tehran.

The United States has criticized Russia for pushing ahead with the Bushehr project at a time when major powers including Russia are pressing Tehran to allay fears that its nuclear energy program may be aimed to develop weapons.

But Western fears that the Bushehr project could help Tehran develop a nuclear weapon were lessened when Moscow reached an agreement with Iran obliging it to return spent fuel to Russia. Weapons-grade plutonium can be derived from spent fuel rods.

Russian and Iranian specialists are to begin loading uranium-packed fuel rods into the reactor on August 21, a process that will take about 2-3 weeks.

"This will be an irreversible step," Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, said by telephone. "At that moment, the Bushehr nuclear power plant will be certified as a nuclear energy installation," he said.

"That means the period of testing is over and the period of the physical start-up has begun, but this period takes about two and a half months," he said, adding that the first fissile reaction would take place in early October.

The head of Iran's nuclear energy agency, Ali Akbar Salehi, said a ceremony inaugurating the plant would be held in late September or early October, when the fuel is moved "to the heart of the reactor."

The reactor will be linked to Iran's electricity grid about six weeks later when it is powered up to a level of 50 percent, Salehi told the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Diplomats say the Bushehr plant, monitored by the United Nations nuclear watchdog, poses little proliferation risk and has no link with Iran's secretive uranium enrichment program, seen as the main "weaponization" threat, at other installations.

Russia started the delivery of nuclear fuel to the Bushehr plant in late 2007 and deliveries were completed in 2008.

Moscow and Washington agree that importing fuel makes unnecessary Iran's own enrichment project -- the main focus of Western concerns that Tehran is trying to make a nuclear bomb.

Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, rejects such allegations and says its nuclear program is aimed only at generating electricity or producing isotopes for medical care.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had said on March 18 that Russia planned to start up the reactor at the Bushehr plant in the summer of 2010.

Although the USSR is gone but Russia is still a superpower to reckon with.

Salute to Russia !!!

 

[HitNRun]

nice, A big slap on Israel

 

[Hafizzz]

nice, A big slap on Israel

Jewish lobbying in the USA will force Russia to stop the launch of Iran's nuclear power plant.

 

[T-Rex]

What is the implication of this as far as Iran Russia relation is concerned ?

 

[True_Pakistan_Zindabad]

I think the world wants Iran to have nukes. Their mullah are playing a double game and are not to be trusted. I'm not talking about the local Imam. Pakistanis must fund anti establishment groups. Their slice of Balochistan could be a bargain for brokering a ceasefire against the US/Israel/NATO. They are not a power and should be slapped around if necessary, to safeguard borders. India will stay neutral because her armed forces are rusted and awaiting upgrades, and because Russia will be neutral as well.

 

[Hafizzz]

Russia's Loading of Nuke Fuel Into Iran Plant Means Aug. 21 Deadline for Israeli Attack
John Bolton: Russia's Loading of Nuke Fuel Into Iran Plant Means Aug. 21 Deadline for Israeli Attack

News that Russia will load nuclear fuel rods into an Iranian reactor has touched off a countdown to a point of no return, a deadline by which Israel would have to launch an attack on Iran's Bushehr reactor before it becomes effectively "immune" to any assault, says former Bush administration U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton.

Warmongers running all over the place.

 

[graphican]

Alhamdolillah.. May Allah bless Iran with prosperity and strength to stand and defend itself against every odd. May Allah Bless the same power to every Muslim country of the world. Aamin.