Russia, Iran coordinate documents on Bushehr N-plant units

Russia and Iran have ended coordinating documents to build new units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Deputy director-general of Russia’s nuclear corporation “Rosatom” Nikolai Spassky and Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan have held consultations on nuclear cooperation with Iranian officials, Rosatom says.
The parties also discussed further development of cooperation in the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and other issues, the nuclear corporation says.
“Both parties showed interest in expanding cooperation. They noted the importance of fulfilling international obligations and national legislation, and making projects economically efficient,” it says.
The Bushehr first unit was put into operation in 2011. This was one of the most difficult projects in the history because the construction had started in 1974 and ended in 1980.
Twelve years later Russia and Iran agreed to resume the activities. It took 14 years to build the plant.
The Bushehr nuclear power has never been imposed any international sanctions. The plant is being built under the control of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In compliance with the supplements to the 1992 agreement Iran obliged to return spent nuclear fuel back to Russia.
Iran sits astride several major fault lines and is prone to frequent earthquakes, some of which have been devastating.
On April 9, a 6.1-magnitude quake rocked the south, with an epicentre around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Bushehr.
Western concerns also include Iranian engineers’ abilitiy to run a power plant constructed of component from three different sources - German, Russian and domestic.
Iran has said it wants to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear power, which would necessitate building 20 1,000-megawatt reactors.
The portfolio of Rosatom’s nuclear orders will double in 2014 and reach up to $100 billion.
In May the corporation signed an agreement with Kazakhstan to build a nuclear power plant. It is expected to build the third and fourth units at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant, India, within the Russian-Indian roadmap. Finland signed a contract with Rosatom to build a nuclear power plant in the country’s west. The Russian corporation continues the works in Hungary, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Rosatom and Iran seek to expand cooperation over the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The construction of a nuclear power plant in Belarus is ahead of schedule.
Rosatom is planning to open an affiliated company in Brazil with the headquarters in Rio de Janeiro.
The corporation cooperates with Argentina that is planning to build new units at nuclear power plants. Rosatom supplies isotopes for Argentina’s nuclear medicine.