Q+A: Russia delays Iran's Bushehr nuclear station
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia on Monday said it would not start a nuclear reactor at Iran's Bushehr atomic power station by the end of the year as planned, citing technical reasons.
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Following are details about the plant and its significance:
THE PLANT
The Bushehr plant is on the Gulf coast in southwest Iran. It is Iran's first nuclear power plant.
Russia agreed in 1995 to build the plant on the site of an earlier project begun in the 1970s by German firm Siemens. The project which was disrupted by Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution and the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war.
The details of the contract are state secrets in Russia but its value is said to be about $1 billion.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
Amid international efforts to get Tehran to allay fears about its nuclear program, diplomats say Russia is using Bushehr as a lever with the Islamic Republic.
The United States and some European Union countries suspect Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb under cover of its civilian nuclear program.
Iran, the world's fourth-largest crude oil producer, rejects such allegations and says its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.
Russia, credited with having clout in Tehran because of arms deals and the Bushehr plant, has so far refused to publicly support the threat of additional sanctions against Iran.
On Sunday President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow was not completely happy about the pace of dialogue between Tehran and the international community.
Medvedev's comments came after Iran failed to give a clear answer on whether it will support a U.N.-brokered deal to send the bulk of its low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing.
The proposal was aimed at reducing international fears about Tehran's ability to build a nuclear weapon and U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that time was running out for diplomacy to resolve the crisis.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who many diplomats say takes the lead on formulating Russia's policy toward Iran, has warned the international community against intimidating and said talk of sanctions is premature.
But Putin has kept the door open for supporting sanctions, saying that if dialogue with Tehran failed, then the question of what to do next should be raised again.
WHO IS BUILDING IT?
Atomstroyexport, a part of Russia's state owned nuclear holding Rosatom, is building the plant.
Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters on Feb 5 that barring unforeseen events, the Bushehr plant would be started up in 2009.
Russian and Iranian officials have given different dates for the start-up and the two sides had a row in 2007 over what Moscow said were major payment delays.
WHAT ABOUT THE FUEL?
Russia started the delivery of nuclear fuel to the plant in late 2007 and deliveries were completed last year. Russia and Washington agree importing fuel makes unnecessary Iran's own plutonium enrichment project - the main point of Western concerns.
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, editing by Matthew Jones)
