Valery Limarenko, the president of JSC NIAEP-holding Company of JSC Atomstroyexport (JSC ASE), said on Monday that Russia has started production of equipment necessary for the construction of new reactors at the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran.

“The contracts for the production of a melt localization device, the so-called core catcher, for the second and third NPP reactors have already been signed. Moreover, the manufacturer has already started to produce this complex equipment,” Sputnik quoted Limarenko as saying at the IXth International Forum ATOMEXPO 2017.

He added that contracts on deliveries of equipment for machinery rooms were also signed.

Limarenko also said that the issue of purchasing the Bushehr nuclear power plant’s steam generators and the automation systems of technological process control is also on the agenda.

“This is a difficult and detailed work, which involves a large number of Atomstroyexport specialists, the main purpose of which is to supply the equipment in time. Such approach will allow reducing the period of construction, as the equipment will be delivered directly to the installation area,” he said.

Tehran transferred to Russia the first tranche to finance the building of the second stage of the Bushehr plant in December 2016.

According to Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, construction and installation works under Bushehr-2 project began on March 14, 2017.