Iran’s first nuclear power plant, Bushehr, will reach its nominal generating capacity in March 2012, Iran’s news agency ISNA said on Wednesday referring to Energy Minister Majid Namjou.
In September, Iran officially opened Bushehr which was completed with Russia's assistance after a long delay.
The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is to announce that Bushehr produce electricity and that it successfully passed all necessary safety tests.
Bushehr has the capacity to generate 1,000 megawatts of power and is now working at 40% capacity under the supervision of Russian experts. The plant has already added some 500 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.
Under a bilateral agreement approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Russia will operate the plant, supply its fuel and take away all the spent fuel for the next two or three years, but will eventually hand over full control to Iran.
The construction of Bushehr has taken more than three decades and has been dogged by delays. Russia signed a contract with Iran in February 1995 to complete the plant, which German companies first began back in 1975.
