Iran Wants Russians To Finish Reactor

Iran wants the Russians to finish building the Bushehr reactor project right now. Or they say they will finish it themselves. This does not bode well for the negotiations underway with the EU, I suspect.

"In the event that the Russian contractor proves incapable of completing the Bushehr project, Iran is ready to finish it itself," the head of Iran's nuclear energy organization Gholamreza Aghazadeh told Iranian journalists after Moscow talks.

"From our point of view, we can complete the power station within six months," Aghazadeh told the semi-official Mehr news agency, denying reports of an agreement with Russia for a November 2007 completion date.

The Iranian envoy launched a strong attack on the competence of Russian contractor Atomstroyexport which is building the power plant but said Iran would continue to work with it for the time being.

Before the Moscow talks began, Iranian officials said that the meetings were aimed at finalizing plans for the delivery of nuclear fuel and the startup of the Bushehr plant.

"We are going to discuss ways to remove existing obstacles by quickly completing the Bushehr atomic plant and also we are going to agree the time of inauguration and sending the fuel," Aghazadeh's deputy, Mohammad Saeedi, told Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Saeedi complained that Russia had not followed through on commitments made last year on schedules for delivery of nuclear fuel, fuel that must be shipped and installed around six months before the plant can go on stream.

Although Russia had a longstanding contract worth an estimated one billion dollars to build the Bushehr reactor, it has been under heavy US-led pressure to suspend or slow its cooperation with the Islamic republic, which Washington accuses of trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

Even if the reactor is built, there is the problem of fueling the unit. I have no idea if Iran has the infrastructure to perform fuel fabrication. It requires a lot of know-how and industrial capability to actually make the fuel assemblies. It is not beyond the realm of possibility, however, given the advanced enrichment program.

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1. The Real Ugly American.com » Blog Archive » Iran Wants Russians To Finish Reactor — Monday, 25 September , 2006 @ 1:06 pm