Work on second reactor at Iran's Bushehr plant begins in March

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Russian Federation media and Iran said late last week that construction of the second nuclear reactor at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Bushehr, Iran, will start by March 20.

This construction will consist of the eventual installation of two more nuclear reactors at the facility. The construction will be managed by ROSATOM, the Russian Federation’s state nuclear energy company.

"All steps necessary to start construction have already been made,” Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO), said. “The capacity of each new Bushehr power unit will stand at 1,050 megawatts. We want to use as much as possible cutting-edge technologies and achievements in the sphere in the construction.”

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) became effective on Jan. 16. A report from the Russian news agency TASS said Iran entered into an agreement with the Russian Federation in 2014 to add two more reactors at Bushehr for $11 billion.

Salehi said Russia was the only international entity that expressed interest in such deals prior to the international agreement, largely because of economic sanctions.

The first reactor at the Bushehr plant also was built under a contract with Russia.