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Nuclear power plant in Bushehr is absolutely safe - view

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Feb 26, Itar-Tass/ACSNA/IRNA -- The nuclear power plant which 
Russia is building in Bushehr, `is absolutely safe and meets all 
present-day international demands`, the director of the Bezopasnost 
(Safety) enterprise of Rostekhnadzor (Russian Nuclear, Industrial and 
Environmental Regulatory Authority) told Itar-Tass on Saturday. 
According to Vladimir Kozlov, the most difficult problem in 
ensuring the safety of the station is to protect it from climatic 
impacts. 
"The nuclear power plant here should operate safely under 100 
percent humidity and temperatures reaching 45 degrees above zero, like
in a permanent Russian sauna," the specialist explained. 
He also stressed that the power plant is seismically safe, and can
survive the fall of a plane from the altitude of several thousand 
meters, as well as terrorist attacks. Kozlov noted that Russian 
nuclear units are among the best in the world as far as their design 
is concerned. 
He also added that up to ten Russian specialists constantly work 
at the site controlling the quality of the construction, and `dozens 
more Russian experts arrive with inspections at least once a year`. 
The production of all necessary equipment and spare parts at 130 
Russian enterprises taking part in the Bushehr project is also checked
on a permanent basis. 
All in all 730 experts control the construction of three Russian 
nuclear power plants abroad -- in Iran, China and India. 
Kozlov also said that that his agency signed a separate contract 
with Iran in 1996. Under it, Russian specialists inspect the designing
and assemblage of the power plant, train personnel and draw up 
documents necessary for control over quality. 
He said his agency had helped draw up Iran`s atomic law. Every 
year, all specialists working at Bushehr are certified by 
Rostekhnadzor experts. 
The passing of the exam is one of the necessary demands, he said. 
The Russian specialist declined to disclose the price of the 
contract with his agency, saying only that it amounts to `several 
dozen million dollars`. 
"Such auxiliary contracts are an accepted international practice, 
and their world prices vary from one to five percent of the entire 
cost of the project," Kozlov said. 
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