Russia delivers fourth nuclear fuel shipment to Iran

Russia delivers fourth nuclear fuel shipment to Iran

Russia delivers fourth nuclear fuel shipment to Iran
Iran Herald
Sunday 20th January, 2008
(IANS)

Tehran, Jan 20 (RIA Novosti) Russia delivered Sunday the fourth fuel shipment to the Bushehr nuclear power plant it is building in southern Iran, Iranian officials said.

The Iranian media quoted the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran as saying that 11 metric tonnes of low-enriched uranium has been delivered to the plant, which has been the focus of international attention over fears Iran is developing nuclear weapons.

The shipment is the fourth Russia has supplied to the Islamic country under a contract. The remaining four batches will be delivered according to a previously agreed timetable.

Sergei Kiriyenko, the director general of Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, earlier said Russia would complete fuel supplies to the Bushehr NPP in February.

'In February we will complete the supplies, and actual work with the fuel at the plant will start in July-August,' he said.

The first delivery to the plant, being built by Russian contractor Atomstroyexport, was made on Dec 16, 2007 following months of project delays that Moscow attributed to payment arrears, but which Iran blamed on pressure from Western nations.

Under a bilateral contract, Russia is set to deliver 82 metric tonnes of fuel in eight batches. Deliveries are monitored by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

US President George W. Bush, who has led international calls for sanctions against Iran over its refusal to freeze its nuclear program, said last month that he supported the start of Russia's enriched uranium deliveries to the Iran, and that Tehran no longer has any excuse to develop its own enrichment capabilities.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov echoed Bush's comments in late December, saying it would not be economically useful for Iran to continue its uranium enrichment program.