In a move definite to disappoint United States diplomats trying to halt Iran’s nuclear program, the atomic energy agency of Russia said Friday that it would take a central step later this month toward starting Iran’s first nuclear power plant. The agency said that technicians would move tons of low enriched uranium fuel from a storage space site into the reactor on Aug. 21, the first of three steps in a month’s extended process for starting it up. “The event will represent that the period of testing is over and the stage of physical start-up has begun,” the Russian atomic energy agency said in a report.
The United States had asked Russia to put off moves to create the plant until Iran assuaged concerns that it is using its resident nuclear program to also build a bomb. The creation and startup of the plant, located near the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, have been plagued by dozens of delays since Russia take over the work there in the mid 1990s. Russian officials, who are also disturbed about Iran’s nuclear progress, had long appeared to use the plant construction schedule and the drawn-out startup process as influence with Iran’s leaders and in wider Russian diplomacy in the Middle East. Often, delays for apparently technical reasons have come just days after a Russian leader makes a political statement critical of Iran.
For months, the Russians have been set out an August start date for the plant, but it seemed plausible that the date could be pushed back. From the Iranian standpoint, the start-up has been possible since roughly February 2009, when the reactor core was effectively tested. In the step set for Aug. 21, fuel will be shifted from storage to the reactor hall. The second involves loading the fuel into the tough stainless steel core. The final step is bringing the fuel rods closer jointly to begin the nuclear reaction. Once the fuel is irradiated in the finishing step of the start-up, it will begin to generate plutonium that could be used in an atomic weapon, which is why Russia had insisted on its return as a situation of completing and fueling the plant.
The United States had asked Russia to put off moves to create the plant until Iran assuaged concerns that it is using its resident nuclear program to also build a bomb. The creation and startup of the plant, located near the southern Iranian city of Bushehr, have been plagued by dozens of delays since Russia take over the work there in the mid 1990s. Russian officials, who are also disturbed about Iran’s nuclear progress, had long appeared to use the plant construction schedule and the drawn-out startup process as influence with Iran’s leaders and in wider Russian diplomacy in the Middle East. Often, delays for apparently technical reasons have come just days after a Russian leader makes a political statement critical of Iran.
For months, the Russians have been set out an August start date for the plant, but it seemed plausible that the date could be pushed back. From the Iranian standpoint, the start-up has been possible since roughly February 2009, when the reactor core was effectively tested. In the step set for Aug. 21, fuel will be shifted from storage to the reactor hall. The second involves loading the fuel into the tough stainless steel core. The final step is bringing the fuel rods closer jointly to begin the nuclear reaction. Once the fuel is irradiated in the finishing step of the start-up, it will begin to generate plutonium that could be used in an atomic weapon, which is why Russia had insisted on its return as a situation of completing and fueling the plant.
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