Russia to hand over Bushehr NPP control to Iran in autumn

Iranian Bushehr nuclear power plant will operate with full capacity (1000 Mw) by the beginning of summer, Mehr news agency quoted Busher NPP Executive Manager Mahmoud Jafari as saying.

Bushehr NPP is producing 720 to 730 megawatts-hour with 75 percent of its final capacity, he said.

Jafari added that the power plant has been constructed completely, but for boosting its output, more tests are needed.

“After handing over the Bushehr NPP which was constructed by Russian experts to Iran in autumn, the control of that will be held totally by domestic scientists,” he stressed.

The Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant was officially launched on September 12 and started generating electricity at 40 percent of its capacity.

The 1,000-megawatt plant, located southeast of the city of Bushehr along the Persian Gulf, had been already connected to the country’s national power grid with the power of 60 MW on September 3, 2011.

It reached the capacity of 190 MW on last September 27, and a day later it improved its capacity to 300 MW. The plant gained 50 percent of its nominal power on October 7 as it reached the capacity of 420 MW.

Initial construction of the facility began in 1975 by German companies, but the work was stopped following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In 1995, Iran and Russia reached an agreement to complete the project. However, power generation was delayed several times due to a number of technical and financial problems.