Nuclear
Russia Delivers Nuclear Fuel to Iranian Project
Russia made its first delivery of nuclear fuel on Sunday to an Iranian power plant that is at the center of an international dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, the Russian Foreign Ministry and a spokeswoman for the Russian company overseeing the project said Monday.
It was unclear whether the release two weeks ago of a United States intelligence assessment that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 had any bearing on the decision to start deliveries of the fuel.
Iran insists that the power plant, at Bushehr in southern Iran, is part of a civilian nuclear program but critics, particularly in the United States and Western Europe, have accused Tehran of secretly developing or planning to develop a nuclear bomb.
The United States has long been applying pressure on Russia to delay the completion of the power station, and until recently Russia had halted work on the power plant, citing financial disputes with Iran.
But the Russian position has always been that evidence is scant that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon, and by concluding that Iran’s nuclear program remains frozen the American intelligence assessment on Dec. 3 provided support for this argument.
The delivery of the first fuel shipment appears to set the clock ticking on when the power station could become operational, although this remains uncertain and the company overseeing the project said no firm date had been set for the opening.
The Russian contractor responsible for the plant, Atomstroyexport, said the plant would be technically ready to operate no sooner than six months after all the uranium fuel rods needed to power the station were delivered. The company said it planned to deliver about 80 tons of nuclear fuel to Iran over the next two months.
“The first phase of delivery has been completed,” said Irina F. Esipova, a spokeswoman for Atomstroyexport. “A small amount of fuel is already on the premises of the Bushehr station in a special storage facility,” she said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the fuel would be under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency while it is in Iran and that Iran had given written guarantees that the fuel would only be used for the nuclear power plant.
“All fuel that will be delivered will be under the control and guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency for the whole time it stays on Iranian territory," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Moreover, the Iranian side gave additional written guarantees that the fuel will be used only for the Bushehr nuclear power plant.”
The statement added: “After the Russian fuel is processed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, it will be returned to Russia for further processing and storage.”
Iran confirmed that it had received the shipment, according to the official Iranian news agency IRNA, The Associated Press reported. “The first nuclear fuel shipment for the Bushehr atomic power plant arrived in Iran Monday,” IRNA quoted Iranian Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh as saying, the A.P. said.
Construction of Bushehr has been hindered by repeated delays. Earlier this year Russia delayed a fuel shipment expected in March, accusing Iran of tardiness in making its monthly payments of $25 million.
However, Western officials said that Russia made the decision in part to help the West to pressure Iran into more openness on its nuclear program.
Last week, Sergei Shmatko, the director of Atomstroyexport, announced that Russia and Iran had ended their financial disputes over the project, although he did not indicate a date for when the long-awaited opening will occur.
The United States released a National Intelligence Estimate two weeks ago concluding that Tehran ended its nuclear weapons program in 2003, undermining earlier claims by the Bush Administration that Iran was actively developing a nuclear weapon.
Officials in Washington have nevertheless continued to insist that Iran remains a threat, sentiments which have been echoed by some European leaders. Iran considers itself to have been vindicated by the intelligence report. On Sunday, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran called the nuclear issue his "toughest battle and challenge" in recent years, but said the intelligence report had boosted Iran’s international status, a statement on the website of Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
(Published by Times Online, December 17, 2007)