Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 12 /Trend/
A pre-launch ceremony of the Bushehr nuclear power plant (NPP) kicks off officially in Iran today, IRNA reported.
Iran's FM Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization Feredoun Abbasi- Davani, Energy Minister Majid Namjou, Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko and the head of Russia's Nuclear Energy Agency Sergei Kiriyenko attends the ceremony held for pre-launch of Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Bushehr NPP has been connected to Iran's electricity network on Sept. 4 and has supplied about 60 megawatt of electricity to the country's electric network since its connection to the grid.
The final production capacity of Bushehr NPP is 1000 megawatt electricity.
Salehi announced Sunday that now the reactor operates at 35-40 percent of its capacity, but it is expected that it will be able to operate at full capacity in two-three months. The plant will soon be disconnected from the grid for the inspection of the equipment and additional testing, he added. After testing the reactor will be speeded up again and put into the operation at the maximum capacity.
Bushehr is the first nuclear power plant in Iran and throughout the Middle East. The plant began to be built by the German Kraftwerk Union in 1974. In 1980 the contract was terminated during the Western German government's accession to the U.S. embargo on supplying equipment to Iran.
On Aug. 25, 1992, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to continue construction of the nuclear power plant. In January 1995, a contract to complete work on the first power unit was signed, and in 1998 construction management was transferred to AtomStroyExport.
Initially, construction of the station was planned for completion in 1999. Later, the deadlines were repeatedly postponed due to financial and technological challenges.