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More Russian nuclear fuel
delivered to Iran
AFP
Thursday January 24, 2008
Russia delivered a sixth consignment of fuel for
Iran's first nuclear power plant in the Gulf port of Bushehr on
Thursday which makes it around 80 percent of the consignment,
the official IRNA news agency reported.
"The sixth load of nuclear fuel arrived at the
Bushehr plant on Thursday morning," said a statement from
the Organisation for Production and Development of Nuclear Energy
quoted by the news agency.
The delivery brings the nuclear fuel supplied by Russia so far
to 66 tonnes or around 80 percent of the total order of 82 tonnes,
IRNA said.
Previous deliveries were made on December 17 and 28, and January
18, 20 and 22. Two more consignments are due by February according
to a timetable agreed by the two sides.
(Article continues below)
Late last month, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
said the Bushehr reactor would be working at 50 percent capacity
by mid-2008.
But the Russian constructors insist the 1,000-megawatt plant
will not go on line until the end of the year.
After delivery of the first shipment of fuel, Russia said Iran
no longer needed to pursue its own uranium enrichment, a message
repeated by US President George W. Bush.
Tehran has so far defied successive UN Security Council ultimatums
to suspend enrichment prompting two sets of UN sanctions.
The six major powers, the five veto-wielding permanent members
of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and
the United States -- plus Germany drew up a new text on Tuesday
to put before the council.
The contents of the text agreed by the foreign ministers of the
so called 5+1 were not released.
But a senior US official said the new draft "increases the
severity of the sanctions already in place and will also introduce
new elements."
Iran on Wednesday described as illegal and ineffective the threat
of new UN sanctions and said it would clear up any remaining questions
about its nuclear programme in talks with the UN watchdog.
The Western powers fear that Iran's nuclear programme is a cover
for a drive to develop a bomb, a charge Tehran strongly denies.
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