BUSHEHR (Iran), September 12. /TASS/. Iran will repay first advances to Russia for the construction of the second line of the Bushehr nuclear plant by the end of 2016, a representative of Atomstroyexport (Rosatom’s engineering subsidiary) Suren Ambartsumyan said Monday.

"The Iranian side will repay the advance in several tranches by the end of the year," he said.

On September 10, the groundbreaking ceremony in Bushehr marked the beginning of construction of the second unit of Bushehr-2 nuclear power plant.

Earlier the Iranian side said the project’s cost might top $10 bln.

According to Ambartsumyan, the first earth works at the second unit of Bushehr nuclear plant may start in end-2017.

"The works will be implemented in two stages," he said, adding that "the planned activities will take place at the end of 2017, prior to which all primary paperwork will be prepared."

Currently the project plan as well as the construction and mounting base are being agreed.

Bushehr’s first power unit was built by Russian companies 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) will be 2,100 megawatt.

The implementation of Bushehr-2 project will take 10 years. The start-up of the second unit is planned for October 2024, the third unit will be launched in April 2026.