MOSCOW, June 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia’s nuclear corporation Rosatom head has said a contract on the construction of two units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant is planning to be signed till the yearend.

“We hope that we’ll sign supplements to the inter-governmental agreement and corresponding contracts,” Sergei Kiriyenko said on Monday.

Russia and Iran agreed long ago that after the first unit was put into operation, they would discuss issues for expanding the nuclear plant “because the site makes it possible to build other units”, Kiriyenko said.

The terms for constructing new units are also planning to be determined till the yearend, he said.

“From the technical point of view two (additional) units are indispensable. Our intergovernmental agreement allows us to develop broader cooperation,” Kiriyenko said.

Rosatom deputy head Nikolai Spassky arrived in Tehran on Monday, IRNA News Agency said.

During the two-day visit, he is expected to have talks with Iranian Vice-President, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi and the organisation’s spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, and Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Issues Abbas Araghchi.

“The parties are planning to reach the final agreement on Monday or Tuesday,” Kamalvandi said.

 

Bushehr nuclear power plant

Russia built the one-unit nuclear power plant in Iran. The Bushehr nuclear power plant became first in the Middle East.

The Bushehr first unit was put into operation in 2011. This was one of the most difficult projects in the history because the construction had started in 1974 and ended in 1980.

Twelve year later Russia and Iran agreed to resume the activities. It took 14 years to build the plant.

The Bushehr nuclear power has never been imposed any international sanctions. The plant is being built under the control of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency). In compliance with the supplements to the 1992 agreement Iran obliged to return spent nuclear fuel back to Russia.

Iran sits astride several major fault lines and is prone to frequent earthquakes, some of which have been devastating.

On April 9, a 6.1-magnitude quake rocked the south, with an epicentre around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Bushehr.

Western concerns also include Iranian engineers’ abilitiy to run a power plant constructed of component from three different sources - German, Russian and domestic.

Iran has said it wants to produce 20,000 megawatts of electricity from nuclear power, which would necessitate building 20 1,000-megawatt reactors.