Iran starts to load fuel to reactor at Bushehr power plant

Iran and Russia started on Saturday to load fuel rods to a reactor at the Bushehr power plant, the first nuclear power plant in Iran.

Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russian state nuclear energy corporation Rosatom, and chief of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Salehi attended a ceremony to initiate the transfer of fuel to the plant in southern Iran.

The fuel-loading operation by Iranian and Russian engineers was carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Salehi and Kiriyenko will hold a press conference after the start-up ceremony.

The construction of the nuclear plant began in 1975 by German companies. After the United States imposed embargo on hi-tech supplies to Iran following Iran's 1979 revolution, Russia signed a contract with Tehran in 1995 to complete the construction.

Source:Xinhua