Russia will load fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant next week, taking what it called “an irreversible step” despite US fears that it could help Tehran make atomic weapons, officials said yesterday.
Russia had been dragging its feet for 15 years on its pledge to build the reactor at Bushehr but next Saturday’s start-up will accelerate Iran’s drive to what it claims is peaceful use of nuclear power.
“From that moment the Bushehr plant will be officially considered a nuclear-energy installation,” said Sergei Novikov, a spokesman for the Russian nuclear agency.
Moscow brushed off US concerns, saying the uranium fuel used by the Bushehr plant is enriched to a level too low to be used in a weapon.
Iran invited UN observers to watch the transfer of fuel.