FACTBOX: Key facts on Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant

(Reuters) - Russia announced on Monday it had begun deliveries of nuclear fuel to Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station, adding that Moscow had received written assurances from Tehran the shipped fuel would not be used for any other purpose.

Washington, which believes Tehran harbors ambitions to acquire a nuclear weapon, had urged Moscow not to send the fuel.

Moscow says it sees no evidence Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon and that in any case, the Bushehr project could not be used in a weapons program.

Here are some key facts about Bushehr:

* The Bushehr nuclear facility is associated with the city of the same name, but is actually located near Halileh about 12 km (8 miles) south of Bushehr proper. The site is also the location of Iran's Nuclear Energy College.

* Construction of two pressurized water nuclear reactors began in 1974 with the help of German contractor Siemens and French scientists. The Bushehr I reactor was 85 percent complete and the Bushehr II reactor was partially complete prior to the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

* With the fall of the shah in the 1979 revolution, the project was halted. The site was then damaged during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war and equipment looted.

* The project was later revived with Russian help. The value of the Russian contract up to March 2006 was just under $1 billion.

* Bushehr will have an operating capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Iran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, has said it wants to build a network of nuclear power plants with a capacity of 20,000 megawatts by 2020 to enable it to export more of its oil and gas. Iran and Russia are in talks over the construction of a second reactor at Bushehr.

* Moscow announced in September 2006 that nuclear fuel would be delivered to Bushehr in March 2007, the reactor would start up in September and that electricity generated from it would be sent to the power grid in November.

* But in February 2007 Moscow said it would put off construction work at Bushehr indefinitely because Tehran was behind on payments.

* Atomstroiexport, the Russian subcontractor helping to build the plant, announced in July this year that Moscow has no chance of finishing Bushehr before late 2008. It said last week the payment problems had been resolved.

(Editing by Giles Elgood)