Iran's "unprecedented attitude" leads to Bushehr delays

12 March 2007

As talks collapsed, a Russian contractor building Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant has conceded that the recent financial dispute with the country will lead to delays, putting completion dates beyond September 2007.

The 1000 MWe pressurized water reactor was originally scheduled to begin operation in late 2006, but that was subsequently revised with the completion of construction set for September 2007; first power at the end of that year; and commercial operation around March 2008.

Now, an unresolved financial dispute has led the delivery of fresh nuclear fuel to Bushehr to be indefinitely delayed and an AtomStroyExport (ASE) spokesman to dismiss a September completion date and say November would be the soonest possibility.

Around September 2006, Iran's Atomic Energy Authority changed monthly payments for the Bushehr project from US dollars to Euros. Reportedly, Iranian officials failed to notify their Russian counterparts and no provision for the change was made. Russian firms involved claim this has resulted in no funds reaching them.

A spokesman for Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) said recently that under an agreement signed lastSeptember Iran was due to pay $25 million (Eur19 million) each month but "in the fourth quarter of 2006, the Iraniansfailed to pay 60 percent... InJanuary they paid only 20 percent of the sumanticipated, and in February they paid nothing."

At crisis talks on 12 March, Gholam-Reza Aghazadeh said Iran wanted to resolve the matter, but that any agreement would be under "a formula devised by the Iranian side," blamed ASE for changing management 'eight times' and called for ASE to provide a "transparent plan" for completing the work.

The talks failed, with both sides unable to agree a new funding schedule or even a joint statement. An ASE source later said: "We arefacing an unprecedented attitude on the part of the Iranian side."

Further information

AtomStroyExport

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran

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