The launch of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, which
Russia is building, would be postponed the Xinhua news agency
reported on Monday quoting a statement by the Russian Federal
Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom). The statement named Iranian delays
in payment as reason for the move.
“The fact is that there is no money, and it is impossible
to construct without money,” Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov
was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying. He said Iran
suspended payments on Jan. 17.
“Therefore, our Iranian partners should not be surprised
by an extension of the deadline for the launch of the first unit
at Bushehr,” he said.
Under an agreement reached last September, Russia was to deliver
nuclear fuel to Bushehr in March and the power station would begin
working in September. Novikov did not say for how long the launch
will be delayed.
The announcement came after talks between Russian and Iranian
officials last week in Moscow failed to reach agreement on the
dispute over funding.
Located in southwestern Iran, Bushehr is the country’s
first nuclear power station, but work at the plant has been long
delayed. Russia and Iran signed a 1 billion-U.S. dollar contract
for the construction of the plant in 1995.
