Iran to start second phase of Bushehr nuclear plant project next solar year

TEHRAN. KAZINFORM - Iran will start the second phase of Bushehr nuclear plant project in the next Iranian calendar year, which begins on March 21, ISNA quoted deputy head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Ali Asghar Zare'an as saying on March 1.

Meanwhile, the Mehr News Agency quoted AEOI spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying on February 16 that a delegation from Russia will come to Iran by late February to continue talks on the establishment of the second phase of Bushehr nuclear plant. We are currently negotiating with Russia, Kamalvandi said, adding that the talks will be probably finalized in the next two months. Iran hopes to start construction of a new power plant in the city of Bushehr, Fars News Agency quoted the AEOI Head Ali-Akbar Salehi as saying on January 10. Salehi noted that the building of the plant will take about eight years. On December 29, 2013, Salehi said, "We had an agreement that the capacity of the nuclear power plant, which Russia will build in Iran, will be about 5,000 megawatts." In February 2013, Salehi said the Bushehr NPP has been producing 1000 megawatts of energy, and 4000 is yet to be produced. "I hope that together with colleagues from Russia it will be possible to begin the construction of the second power plant in Bushehr, in the near future," he said.