Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 17 / Trend F.Milad/
Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant will double its power generation capacity to 1,000 megawatts in the near future, Iranian Deputy Energy Minister said.
The first phase of the power plant has come on stream with 500 megawatts capacity, Mehr news agency Mohammad Behzad as saying.
The director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereydoun Abbasi said in November that it is expected that the Bushehr nuclear plant will be connected to the national grid at its full capacity in two months.
He said some countries expect to see Iran's failure in its nuclear program. "That is why we are not in hurry to launch the power plant," he said.
Abbasi also rejected claims that the Russians have deliberately put off the launch of the Bushehr plant. "During the eight months that I have been in charge of the Atomic Energy Organization, the Russians have fully cooperated (with Iran) to launch the power plant."
On Sept.12, Iran celebrated the initial launch of the power plant, and on Sept.13, the plant was temporarily connected to the national grid and reached 40 percent of its capacity.
After operating for two weeks with 50 percent of its power generation capacity, the Bushehr nuclear power plant was temporarily disconnected on Oct. 16 from the national grid for technical inspections and tests.