Construction of Two Nuclear Power Plants Begins in Bushehr

The governor of Bushehr announced on Wednesday evening, June 7, the commencement of the construction of two nuclear power plants in the province with a capacity of 3600 megawatts, stating that these "important projects are designed and built with the efforts of young Iranian engineers." Ahmad Mohammadi Zadeh noted that each of these two plants has a capacity of 1080 megawatts of nuclear electricity. The governor's remarks come at a time when Behrouz Kamalvandi, the spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, had stated in March 2014 that Iran and Russia had reached a preliminary agreement to construct at least two additional nuclear power plants. According to him, "a draft was initialed based on which the two sides agreed to construct at least two nuclear power plants, each with a minimum capacity of 1000 megawatts along with a desalination unit, next to the first unit of the Bushehr nuclear power plant." About two years later, Ali Akbar Salehi, the then head of the Atomic Energy Organization of the Islamic Republic, stated that two new nuclear power plants worth $10 billion would be constructed in Iran. This agreement was made while Asghar Jalalian, a member of the committee reviewing the status of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, announced in August 2011 that there were delays in the commissioning of this plant, stating: "The Russians continue to break their promises." He added that the role of the Russians and their impact on the delays in the commissioning of the Bushehr plant had been clarified, and they were deemed responsible for the delays. This member of the Energy Commission also criticized the way the Atomic Energy Organization officials interacted with Russia, urging the plant officials and the Atomic Energy Organization to engage with the Russians "more transparently and seriously and to conduct their negotiations without any ifs and buts." He emphasized that Iran has paid a heavy price for the commissioning of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, stating: "To date, we have spent about three times the cost of a nuclear power plant for the Bushehr plant, and this spending and payments to the Russians continue." Another point about the Bushehr nuclear power plant, despite the extensive propaganda by the Islamic Republic, is that this plant only provides 1000 megawatts of Iran's 65,000 megawatts of electricity consumption. The Islamic Republic is seeking to increase nuclear electricity production; "much ado about nothing"; the JCPOA is in a coma; Iran claims it will construct a 300-megawatt nuclear power plant; Iran confirmed the hacking of emails of the Atomic Energy Production and Development Company; a hacker group claimed to have leaked information related to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran; Iran claims it uses "domestically produced nuclear fuel" for the Bushehr nuclear power plant.