BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 18. Nuclear energy is one of the strongest areas of cooperation between Iran and Russia, Iranian Vice President and Chairman of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami told reporters, Trend reports.
According to him, a vivid example of cooperation between the two countries in the field of nuclear energy is the construction and commissioning of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. At present, this plant is successfully functioning.
Eslami added that the construction of units two and three of the Bushehr nuclear power plant is carried out within the framework of contracts for the development of nuclear power plants. The construction of these units continues in a very successful manner.
In 2011, the first unit of Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant began operations. An Iranian company took over the unit's operation from Rosatom in 2013. Since 2013, this unit has generated the maximum amount of electricity, 1,000 megawatt hours of electricity. Over the past 10 years, electricity generation at Bushehr NPP has exceeded 65 billion kilowatt-hours.
To note, construction of Bushehr NPP Blocks 2 and 3 began in 2017 on an area of 50 ha. Once operational, each of these units can generate 1,057 megawatts of electricity. The commissioning of these two units will save 10 million barrels of crude oil or 1.6 bcm of gas per year and prevent the release of 7 million tons of polluting gases into the environment.
The construction work on Bushehr NPP Units 2 and 3 is presently 17 percent complete.