Iran: Construction of Two New Nuclear Power Plants in Bushehr with Russian Participation

Iran announced that it will build two new nuclear power plants in Bushehr in collaboration with Russia. Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, stated that construction of these plants will begin on September 11 of this year. According to the official news agency of the Islamic Republic, IRNA, Mr. Salehi, who appeared in a television interview on Wednesday evening, September 10, said: 'With the construction of these plants, we will save 22 million barrels of oil annually in the country.' According to this Iranian government official, the investment volume for the construction of these two plants is $10 billion, and the estimated time for this operation is also 10 years. Previously, the Russian state company Rosatom had announced its intention to start engineering a new nuclear power plant in Bushehr by the end of this calendar year. Reports from Russian sources indicated that the investment for constructing this plant is estimated at $11 billion. However, these reports do not provide further details about the extent of Russian participation in the construction of the new nuclear plants in Bushehr. Ali Akbar Salehi also stated that 'the cooperation agreement with the Russian side has taken into account the use of the technical capabilities of domestic industries in implementing this project.' Iran and Russia have also cooperated in completing the first Bushehr power plant. The construction of this plant was initiated by German companies in the mid-1970s, but following the 1979 revolution in Iran, this project was halted until the mid-1990s when Russia signed a contract with Iran to complete the plant. The Bushehr power plant was finally delivered to Iran in 2011.