Iranian Energy Minister Reza Ardakanian told reporters on Saturday that negotiations had been resumed with Russian partners on the construction of a new nuclear power plant generating up to 3,000 MW of electricity, Press TV says.
This will increase the amount of generated electricity from the present 1,000 MW to 4,000 MW, the Iranian TV channel quoted the minister as saying.
Earlier, in November 2014, Tehran and Moscow concluded an agreement on the construction of eight NPPs in Iran. By that time, Russia had already built a nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south of the country. The corresponding agreement was concluded in 1995, but the project had been repeatedly postponed due to the need to settle some technical and financial issues.
In August 2012, a 1,000-megawatt NPP, which operates under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has reached its peak capacity.
In September 2016, Russia and Iran started construction of the second power unit at the Bushehr NPP. Construction of the second and third phases of the facility was launched in November 2017. Recently, in May 2018, the Russian state atomic energy corporation Rosatom announced the start of “soil stabilization” activities at a construction site of the Bushehr NPP’s second phase.
Press TV has noted that the talks between Tehran and Moscow have been resumed after the USA increased pressure on Iran in connection with Washington's decision to withdraw from the nuclear agreement with Iran and the introduction of unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
