Russia plans to build up to 8 nuclear reactors in Iran

Russia plans to sign a contract with Iran this year to build two more nuclear reactors at its Bushehr power plant as part of a broader deal for the construction of up to eight reactors in the Middle-Eastern country, a source close to the negotiations said. "Russia and Iran may sign an intergovernmental agreement this year on building from four to eight nuclear reactors, and, under the deal, the contract for the construction of the first two reactors as additions to Bushehr," the source said, the Business Insider reported. Russia built Iran's only operating nuclear power reactor, at Bushehr. Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom said earlier it was in talks with Iran on the potential construction of more reactors there but revealed no details. Rosatom officials could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday. In December, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced that Iran has plans to generate more electricity through the nuclear energy in the coming years by building a second nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi has on different occasions announced that Iran is ready to continue its mutual cooperation with Russia in peaceful nuclear energy. The Islamic Republic signed the Bushehr contract with Russia in 1995 and the nuclear power plant reached its full capacity by August 2012. It is located about 18 kilometers South of the provincial capital. “Based on our estimates, the second nuclear power plant will be built in the same province and I hope that we can use the facilities of this province,” Rouhani added. In relevant remarks in November, Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi said most of Iran's new power plants will be built near the country's coasts in the South and the North. Salehi said a majority of Iran’s new nuclear facilities will be on the Southern coasts of the Persian Gulf and Northern coasts of the Caspian Sea while another part would be in Central Iran. “The power plants should have access to a huge source of water. The new power plants will be supported by desalinations, mainly located in Southern parts of the country,” the top Iranian nuclear official pointed out. “We are not obliged to introduce to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) the nuclear facilities that we are to build in the future and only 180 days before entry of nuclear substances there, we will inform the IAEA of them,” Salehi said. Also in October, Salehi announced that Iran has plans to generate more electricity through the nuclear energy in the coming years. “We are considering construction of power plants along the coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea as well as the Central parts of Iran, but priority is given to the Persian Gulf coasts because we want to pave the way for (construction of) water desalination facilities to supply drinking water for the Southern provinces of Iran,” Salehi told reporters at the time. Iranian officials say the Persian Gulf country needs enough atomic reactors to generate a total of 20,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020.