BUSHEHR /Iran/, September 10. /TASS/. With exploitation of the Bushehr-1 nuclear power plant, which Iran made together with Russia, the Islamic Republic "saved 11 million barrels of oil, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi said on Saturday.

"If we take an average oil price of $40 a barrel, the energy unit saved for Iran $440 million," he said. "While maintenance and management of the plant is much cheaper, the profit from the block is quite big."

Russian-Iranian cooperation in nuclear sphere

In November 2014, Russia and Iran signed a package of agreements on constructing eight nuclear power units in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Russia will build the second stage of the Bushehr NPP and four more power units at other platforms that have not been determined yet. It was earlier reported that Iran will cover all costs for the project.

Bushehr’s first power unit was built by Russian organizations in accordance with the 1995 contract with Iran. The power plant was connected to Iranian power network on September 3, 2011. This is the first nuclear power plant in the Middle Eastern region.

In November 2014, Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran (NPPD) and Russia’s Atomstoiexport signed two contracts: for the construction of units 2, 3 of Bushehr-2 under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction terms and on a turnkey basis and for engineering studies and collection of data at the site of Bushehr-2. The total capacity of two units of WWER-1000 (Water-Water Energetic Reactor) should be 2,100 megawatt.