TEHRAN – Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom said on Wednesday that construction and installation work has formally begun on the site of Busher-2 Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Iran.

Construction and installation work phase at Bushehr-2 NPP began on March 14, as representatives of the Russian general contractor took part in the official ceremony of the work start, TASS reported.

“On March 14, 2017, the works at the building site of the Bushehr-2 NPP in the Islamic Republic of Iran started,” press service of the Rosatom’s ASE company said.

Tehran and Moscow clinched a deal in 1992 to cooperate on the first stage of the Bushehr project. Under the deal, the first reactor was connected to the national electric grid in 2012 and reached full capacity in the following year.

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

In November 2014, Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran (NPPD) and Russia’s Atomstroiexport 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.

MH/AK