Bushehr reactor to be launched Sept 2007 - Kiriyenko

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Sept 18, IRNA
Iran-Nuclear-Russia

Under the current timetable the physical launch of the first reactor at Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant is due in September 2007.

The chief of the Russian atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, made the remark on the sidelines of the 50th session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna on Monday.

The reactor will be put on stream in November same year.

At last Sunday's meeting with the Iranian delegation it was agreed that a delegation from the Russian contractor Atomstroiexport would arrive at the Bushehr construction site next week.

On September 25, Kiriyenko would meet Iran's Vice President Gholamreza Agazadeh in Moscow.

The Rosatom chief said that over the past two days of his stay in Vienna he had held many bilateral meetings with delegations of IAEA member-states.

"It was a pleasant surprise for me none of them asked questions about the construction of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

"Apparently everybody is aware once we build a nuclear reactor, provide nuclear fuel for it and then take the fuel back to Russia for processing and storing, there can be no talk about non-proliferation," he said.

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