Iran's atomic energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi on Friday confirmed next week's launch of the Islamic republic's first nuclear power plant, as announced by Russia which has helped build the facility.
Russia’s nuclear agency said it will load fuel into Iran’s first nuclear power plant next week, marking the start of its launch.
Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said Friday the agency chief Sergei Kiriyenko would attend the ceremony in Bushehr on August 21.
He said uranium fuel that Russia shipped earlier would be loaded into the reactor, marking the beginning of its physical startup. Novikov added that from that moment on the Bushehr plant would be officially considered a nuclear energy facility.
Russian officials said the latest UN sanctions against Iran would not affect the Bushehr project.