Iran to Turn On 1st Nuclear Power Plant

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy leaves after a control session at the Spanish Parliament, in Madrid, Wednesday, June 13, 2012. The interest rate Spain would have to pay to raise money on the world's bond markets continued to rise Wednesday amid worries that a planned bank bailout might not be enough to save the country from needing an overall financial rescue. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa de Olza) / Daniel Ochoa de Olza

Russia's nuclear agency said Friday that it will load fuel into Iran's first nuclear power plant next week, moving ahead with launching the facility despite Iran's stubborn defiance of international demand to halt uranium enrichment.

Rosatom spokesman Sergei Novikov said that uranium fuel shipped by Russia will be loaded into the Bushehr reactor on Aug. 21, beginning the startup process.

"From that moment the Bushehr plant will be officially considered a nuclear-energy installation," he told The Associated Press.

The United States has called for Russia to delay the startup until Iran proves that it's not developing nuclear weapons. Russian officials said that the latest U.N. sanctions against Iran won't affect the Bushehr project.

Russia signed a $1 billion contract in 1995 for building the Bushehr plant, but it has dragged its feet on completing the project for years.

Moscow has cited technical reasons for the delays, but analysts say Moscow has used the project to press Iran to ease its defiance over its nuclear program.

Novikov said that Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko will travel to Bushehr in southern Iran for the Aug. 21 ceremony, which will also be attended by the Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in March that the Bushehr plant would begin operating this summer. Some Iranian lawmakers have accused Russia of delaying the project under the Western pressure.

Moscow has said that the Bushehr project have been closely supervised by the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. Russian officials said that Iran had signed a pledge to ship all the spent uranium fuel from Bushehr back to Russia for reprocessing, excluding a possibility that any of it could used to make nuclear weapons.

Russia has insisted that the Bushehr project is essential for persuading Iran to cooperate with the IAEA and fulfill its obligations under international nuclear nonproliferation agreements.

The U.N. Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran in June over its nuclear program. The move followed Iran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process which can be used for the production of fuel for power plants as well as material for nuclear warheads if enriched to a higher level.

Iran insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful, aimed at producing nuclear energy, but the United States and others believe Tehran's real goal is to produce atomic weapons.

Russia has walked a fine line on Iran for years. It is one of the six powers leading international efforts to ensure Iran does not develop an atomic bomb. It has backed U.N. sanctions, but strongly criticized the U.S. and the European Union for following up with separate, even stronger sanctions.

[texas_liberal]

In my lifetime, Iran has never Attacked anyone.

[Socialization]

Russia's nuclear agency says that it will fuel Iran's first nuclear power plant, the Bushehr Plant, next weekend, defying U.S. calls to hold off until the Ahmadinejad regime proves it's not developing nuclear weapons ? at the same time the Obama administration is going ahead with the purchase of 21 Russian-made choppers for use in Afghanistan, rather than buy American-made.

Our Traitor an Chief Barack Obungler............

[jnostromo]

With luck all the imams, and the jerk head of state will be gathered around and a huge meldown occurs killing them and all their associates....I bet the Israelis do something to stop it..

[stevex47]

They dont call it the Bush nuclear plant for nothing.

Bush did nothing to stop it...nice going do nothing repukes.

[stevex47]

Thanks Bush for leaving yet another catastrophe for Obama to fix.

How long did boosh do nothing? Oh ya, 8 years he could have fixed this.

[Socialization]

Obama to fix???? Oh my God no. LOL

[kmrunner122]

by Liberalism_Is_Illness August 13, 2010 1:23 PM EDT
********************************

Hey idiot.remember the "stay out of Iran" message from RetarTeddy Kennedy,Pelosi,Murtha and their DemoRat party?They warned Bush not to attack Iran.Did you forget stupid?
***************************************************************

Hey idiot, who makes the final decision? The buck stopped with Bush, not those under him!

[Resin-Smoker]

World war three kicks off the middle of next week?

Oh well life was fun while it lasted.

[kmrunner122]

And people say the Mayans didn't know what they were talking about! Dec 2012!

[mokey22]

Shows what a good world partner Russia is. Putin who really controlls Russia has severe short man syndrom and feels much taller when he can undermine us. He'd better hope if someone destroys those plants that fallout doesnt float over Russia. The guy is brainless.

[Socialization]

The latest example of the weak President we have and what Russia and the world think of him.

Too bad Barack.... I guess the Russians think you are a cheap suit. So much for the "sucking up" diplomacy huh???

[AlanW21126p]

Gotta say, it's a sad sad shame Iran spent all this time and billions of dollars, just for a reactor that will be a pile of black smoking rubble within a year.

You just can't fix stupid, I guess.

Here's hoping Israel goes in there and FLATTENS Iran.

[AlanW21126p]

Kcists asks "Have you really thought through the ramifications of a Israeli attack that causes that much destruction? Have you thought of the problems it will cause and the loss of any trust and friends Israel has in that part of the world?".

With all due respect, which planet have you been on the last few years? Don't you see that most of the world is ALREADY against Israel? The media,liberals, the UN, Europe, the blogs...almost all are universally anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.
It's actually difficult to find 2 people in the same room these days that like Israel. Right now the Jew/Israel hatred is at the highest peak since Europe in the late 1930's.

Because of the rampant and mostly unjustified anti-Israel sentiment, Israel feels they have few friends to lose if they attack Iran.

In the end, which you rather be: (1) Alive, but hated by most of the world (2) Dead because of a Iranian nuclear attack (but, better liked)

Not much of a choice in my book.

[kcits]

@AlanW21126p
1)Q - which planet have you been on the last few years?
A - I live on the same earth you do.
2) Q - Don't you see that most of the world is ALREADY against Israel? The media,liberals, the UN, Europe, the blogs...almost all are universally anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.
A - While a lot of the world may be against Israel now. Recently because of the blockade and invasions of Gaza, something they have done themselves. But if they take the path of bombing a active nuclear reactor, and cause the death of a lot of people because of it, they may loose all the allies they have.
3)Q - Because of the rampant and mostly unjustified anti-Israel sentiment, Israel feels they have few friends to lose if they attack Iran.
A - They risk loosing every friend if they do what was suggested.
4)Q - In the end, which you rather be: (1) Alive, but hated by most of the world (2) Dead because of a Iranian nuclear attack (but, better liked)
Not much of a choice in my book.
A - In the end if they do this it may polarize the world against them completely. There is no proof that Iran has a weapon, or is developing one (to many people also believed Saddam had WMD's, guess what he didnt.), and finally the power plant cant be used at present to make weapons. The actions may be more trouble than they are worth.