Iran has warned that it was prepared to complete the Bushehr nuclear power
plant by itself if the Russian contractor failed to finish the job, the Tehran
Times reported on Tuesday.
Iranian Vice President Gholamreza Aqazadeh and Atomic Energy Organization
Director issued the warning in Moscow on Monday.
He dismissed a report that Iran and Russia had set November 2007 as the date
for bringing the nuclear plant on stream, saying Tehran believes that the plant
could become operational in six months.
Aqazadeh was in Moscow to discuss a timetable for delivery of the nuclear
fuel and startup of the plant.
"We haven't made a deal on this issue, in our point of view, five or six
months are needed to finish the work," said Aqazadeh.
Russian contractor Atomstroiexport has been building Bushehr's first unit in
line with a 1 billion-dollar contract signed by Russia and Iran in 1995.
According to Aqazadeh, up to now, the project is 90 percent complete.
Atomic Energy Organization Deputy Director Mohammad Saeedi, after a meeting
between Aqazadeh and Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's Federal Nuclear Power
Agency, on Monday, said that negotiations were incomplete and after a sum-up of
technical issues, which were to be discussed Monday night, Aqazadeh and
Kiriyenko would reach an agreement on the exact date for start-up of the plant
on Tuesday.
"In this round of talks, the two sides cited obstacles for a quick start-up
of the Bushehr plant," said Saeedi.
He said that main obstacles included manufacture and installation of
equipment for the plant.
Russians are trying to convince the Iranian side to agree to a start-up date
in November 2007, said Saeedi, adding "Mr. Aqazadeh insisted today (Monday) that
we can factor in less time for making the plant operational since the main
equipment had already been installed."
The Bushehr plant was previously scheduled to become operational by the end
of 2006.
