Iran Seeks Partnership with Russia’s Rosatom for Nuclear Power Projects

Iran intends to cooperate with Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom on small nuclear power plants and large NPPs, CEO of Rosatom Alexey Likhachev told reporters in the Kremlin following the Russian-Iranian talks.

"Today, our Iranian colleagues and partners requested the development of cooperation in terms of small nuclear power plants and in terms of a new site for large NPPs," he said, The Caspian Post reports, citing TASS.

According to Likhachev, talks on the construction of another large NPP in Iran will also begin in the near future.

"The first work requires adjustment at the level of intergovernmental agreements, and we have already sent our partners the relevant protocol. As for the work on a new site, on large plants in addition to the Bushehr power plant, it requires very serious and deep negotiations, which we will begin in the near future," Likhachev said.

The head of Rosatom also reported that during the negotiations, the operation of the first unit of the Bushehr NPP in the normal mode was "registered," which has generated more than 70 billion kWh of electricity to date. As Likhachev stressed, despite the sanctions and pressure, the construction of the second and third units of the Bushehr NPP continues.

The construction of the Bushehr NPP in southern Iran began in 1975 by a West German concern, but was interrupted in 1979 after the start of the Islamic Revolution. On August 25, 1992, Russia and Iran signed an agreement to continue construction of the plant. In September 2011, the first power unit was connected to the grid, and its transfer to the Islamic Republic took place in September 2013. In November 2014, a contract was signed for the construction of the second stage of the NPP - the second and third power units. It is planned that they will be put into operation in 2025 and 2027, respectively.