Report: Opening of Iran’s 1st Nuclear Power Plant Delayed Again

Posted August 8th, 2011 at 1:35 pm (UTC-5)
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An Iranian newspaper says the country's first nuclear power plant will not start operating later this month as planned because of delays Iranian lawmakers blame on its Russian builders.

In its Monday edition, the newspaper Aftab quotes lawmaker Asgar Jalalian as saying the Russian state-owned energy company, Rosatom, has reneged on promises regarding the Bushehr plant's construction. Iranian officials had set a target of opening the facility in late August. Rosatom had no comment on the Iranian lawmaker's allegation.

Jalalian is a member of an Iranian parliamentary committee examining the status of the Bushehr plant, which has been hit by repeated delays since Russia began work on it in 1995. He told the Iranian newspaper that construction costs at the plant had surged, partly because Iran's contract with Rosatom has no financial ceiling or end date.

But, Jalalian did not say whether the cost overruns were the cause of the latest delays. He said his committee handed its report on Bushehr to the parliament.

Russia delivered fuel to the reactor in recent years, but ordered the fuel removed earlier this year, citing a need to prevent contamination from metal particles caused by aging construction equipment.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy program, a charge Iran denies.