Iran power station ready 2007?

2006-05-15 14:17

Moscow - A senior Russian nuclear official has signalled further delays to the completion of a nuclear power station that Russia is building for Iran at Bushehr, saying the work would not be completed this year.

The official, with the Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, said on Monday: "It is clear that the Bushehr power station will not be completed before 2007.

"For the experts, it is obvious that, for technical reasons, it is impossible to complete construction of the power station in a few months.

"Our position hasn't changed. We want to complete construction as fast as possible, but the speed of the work shouldn't damage the quality and security of the site."

He said nuclear fuel would be delivered to Bushehr "six months before the launch of the reactor", but did not give a precise date.

Speculation Moscow is dragging its heels

Moscow has been caught between conflicting demands from Iran and the United States over its construction of the Islamic republic's first nuclear power station.

Washington has recently renewed its calls for Russia to call off work at Bushehr.

The US is concerned that Iran's stated aim of developing nuclear power is a front for nuclear weapons production.

But an Iranian delegation, on a visit to Moscow last week, raised the issue of the slow progress rate.

The construction at Bushehr has been subject to repeated delays, leading some analysts to say Moscow is dragging its heels over the project.

Construction of a power station at Bushehr first began in 1974, under the direction of West Germany. It was stalled by the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war.

Moscow signed an $800m contract to build a power station at the site in 1995.

- AFP