Russia has delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to a reactor it is helping to build at Bushehr in Iran. The two sides reached agreement last week on a schedule to finish building the plant after years of delays.
Some Western countries fear Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons but Tehran said its programme is for peaceful power generation only. The United Nations has demanded that Iran halt uranium enrichment but has approved the Russian nuclear fuel deliveries.
The Russian company building the Bushehr plant, Atomstroiexport, said the delivery of the enriched uranium fuel began on sunday.The head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, later confirmed that the first delivery had arrived, according to Iran’s state-run Irna news agency.
Enriched uranium is used as fuel in nuclear power stations. When it is more highly enriched, it can be used to make nuclear weapons. There are two pressurised water reactors at the Bushehr site, one of which is reportedly near compltion and likely to be the first major Iranian reactor to begin generating electricity, possibly by mid 2008.
Russian officials have previously said the plant could be operational within six months of fuel being delivered. Iran first planned a reactor near the south-western port of Bushehr with German assistance in 1974. Those plans were abondoned after the Islamist revolution in 1979 but the Russians picked up the project in 1992. On December 13, Russia and Iran agreed on a schedule to finish construction on the Bushehr plant after repeated delays.
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