Concrete poured for Bushehr unit 2

Russian-built Bushehr 1 - the first nuclear power unit in the Middle East - was connected to the national grid on 3 September 2011. Bushehr units 2 and 3 are to be completed in 2024 and 2026, respectively. Rosatom subsidiary ASE, which is the general contractor for the Bushehr project, and Nuclear Power Production and Development Company of Iran signed an EPC turnkey contract for construction of the units at Bushehr in November 2014. The two VVER-1000 units will be built with Generation III+ technology, including the latest safety features, and have a combined capacity of 2100 MWe, ASE has said.

"Nuclear power provides reliable electricity ... and each power plant saves us 11 million barrels of oil or USD660 million per year," Salehi said in a broadcast from the ceremony yesterday.

Iranian and Russian companies signed the contract for the construction of Bushehr units 2 and 3, each 1057-megawatt reactors, and work started in December 2016 and AEOI said yesterday that pouring first concrete marks more than 30% of the project's schedule.

Since the beginning of the project, more than three million cubic meters of earth has been excavated, and 3000 tonnes of reinforced concrete and about 350,000 tonne of cement have been used, it said.