Rosatom in talks with Tehran on building small nuclear power plants
Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom has submitted a draft agreement to Iran for the construction of small nuclear power plants, CEO Alexey Likhachev told reporters on Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Likhachev told reporters that Rosatom had handed over a corresponding draft intergovernmental accord following Iranian requests for smaller-capacity generation.
“Yesterday, we also discussed the further development of relations. We previously signed agreements on another construction site for large power units,” Likhachev was quoted as saying by TASS.
“The Iranians raised the issue of small-capacity generation during the negotiations, and we, for our part, handed over a corresponding draft intergovernmental agreement on the construction of small stations,” he added.
Likhachev noted that as Iran returns to peaceful life, the country will develop its nuclear program, and Rosatom intends to participate in it.
The announcement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held extensive talks on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, focusing in detail on the status and future of Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, as Russian specialists prepare for scheduled maintenance work on the facility’s first unit this month.
The two leaders devoted significant time to reviewing operations at Bushehr, Iran’s sole operational nuclear station, which generates 915 megawatts (MW) — less than 1% of the country’s total electricity output capacity.
Separately, Likhachev said last week that Russian experts were gearing up to take part in planned maintenance on Bushehr’s Unit 1, which are set to begin this month.
He added that 42 Russian personnel are currently present at the site, according to Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti.
The vast majority of Russian staff had left Bushehr following the outbreak of US and Israeli strikes, which began in late February and lasted for 40 days. During that period, the plant’s premises and surrounding areas were struck multiple times, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to express concern and call for restraint and vigilance around nuclear installations.
Bushehr’s first unit, built with Russian cooperation and designed for 1,000 MW, remains in operation, while its second and third units are under construction.
In June, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said the plant had ranked among the world’s top 10 nuclear facilities for the third year running, earning a perfect safety and efficiency score of 100 out of 100 from inspectors of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) following global site
reviews.