Iran’s Atomic Deputy Chief Due in Moscow

(FNA)- Deputy Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi will leave Tehran for Moscow on Monday night to follow up the trend of nuclear cooperation between the two states.

"I will follow up the recent contract signed by Iran and Russia on construction of two nuclear power plants in Bushehr during my visit to Moscow," Kamalvandi, who is both AEOI's spokesman and deputy director for international, legal and parliamentary affairs, said on Monday.

The Iranian atomic official said practical measures are underway for the start of the construction of two nuclear power plants for Iran according to a recent deal signed by the two countries' top nuclear officials.

Once the executive phase is complete, there will be a tender bid for Iranian companies to take up those part of the power plants that must be built by Iran according to the above-mentioned deal, he said.

Kamalvandi said that construction of the nuclear power plants will start next Iranian year (starts March 21).

On Sunday, AEOI Chief Ali Akbar Salehi said Tehran and Moscow will have cooperation in supplying nuclear fuel for the Bushehr nuclear power plant.

"We inked an agreement with the Russians in 1995 in which they have announced their preparedness that if Iran produces four fuel batches by itself or with the help of others every year, they will do the needed tests and evaluations over them for maximum 26 fuel batches in 10 years, and if they don't see any technical problem, they will load them into the heart of the reactor," Salehi said.

Noting that Iran will display the first fuel batch produced inside the country on April 9, he said a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has also been signed by Iran and Russia to provide fuel for the nuclear power plant.

Salehi also referred to an agreement between the two countries for building two 1,000-MW nuclear power plants in Bushehr, and said construction of the two power plants will take 10 years.

Construction of the first one will take 8 years, he said, and explained that building the second plant will start 2 years after the construction of the first power plant starts.

In relevant remarks in November, Salehi stressed that the recent agreement between Tehran and Moscow on the construction of two new nuclear power plants for Iran would further strengthen the country's stance in the nuclear talks with the six world powers.

Salehi said in a televised interview that the recent agreement between Iran and Russia for construction of two power plants and the protocol to produce nuclear fuel in Iran "will make our stances stronger in talks with Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany".

Reacting to certain reports by Western media about transfer of Iran's produced fuel to Russia , he said rumors that Iran agreed to transfer its fuel to Russia or other countries, or is negotiating on the issue, are not correct. "There is no reason to send our fuel to Russia," Salehi added.

The top nuclear officials of Iran and Russia in a meeting in Moscow in November signed an agreement on the construction of two new nuclear power plants for Iran.

The agreement was signed by Salehi and Head of Russia's Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko in the Russian capital.

Upon arrival in the Russian capital, Salehi told reporters that he is also due to "discuss mechanisms for nuclear fuel swaps" with the Russian side.